This is not how they drew it up.
The Dodgers had a plan. Clayton Kershaw would go five innings on 75 pitches or less, Walker Buehler would throw three innings of scoreless relief in his return to action, and Kenley Jansen would close the door for the save.
"That was our plan," said Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts after the game. "We have to have a plan in place and we do, so we stayed the course."
Things didn't go according to plan.
Albert Almora Jr. and Addison Russell both homered as the Chicago Cubs clobbered the Los Angeles Dodgers, 11-5, in the series finale on Thursday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.
The first part went as scripted:
The Dodgers scored three runs in the first four innings and Max Muncy blasted his team-leading 17th home run of the season and second in as many games.
Muncy has hit 10 of his 17 longballs this month, and has reached base safely in 21 of 22 games in June.
"It's really no longer a surprise," said Roberts about Muncy. "To take a lefty, and take him the other way out of the ballpark, he can pull the ball, he can do a lot of things. In the batter's box there's a lot to like."
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Kershaw, still making his return to full strength following a lower back strain on May 31, allowed just one run on four hits with no walks and six strikeouts in five innings.
"Obviously, it's happened now a few years in a row, but every time I go out there I don't worry about it," Kershaw said of his back strain. "We make sure we're going to succeed before I go out there healthwise, so it's just a matter of getting guys out."
Kershaw got guys out, allowing just one runner to reach second base in five innings.
"It's a good team over there, so I was thankful I was able to get through five," continued Kershaw. "For the most part, there is definitely some things to be encouraged about today."
He left with the lead, but then the wheels fell off.
Walker Buehler, who was reinstated off the 10-day disabled list before the game, entered the game in relief and before you could say, "Life moves pretty fast," the game was tied at 3-3.
"After I took Clayton [Kershaw] out, which was how we scripted it: five innings and 75 pitches, it was positive," said Roberts. "You're handing the ball to Walker Buehler, so I felt pretty good about it."
Buehler was originally expected to make a rehab start with the Dodgers Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City on Thursday after not pitching since June 8th.
According to Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts, and the pitcher himself, Buehler arrived in OKC on Wednesday before the team asked him to turn around and flew him back to Los Angeles early Thursday morning.
"I left Oklahoma at 6:15AM, I think," said Buehler of his whirlwind 24 hours. "You guys know me well enough that I'm never going to blame that stuff. You can call it rust or whateve you want, but when it comes to pitching in the Major Leagues, no amount of rust makes that acceptable."
Buehler was understandably rusty and immediately allowed a solo shot to Albert Almora Jr.
Almora Jr. went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and has hit well against the Dodgers in his career, batting .313 with two runs, two doubles, a home run and four RBI in 12 games.
After the home run, Buehler surrendered a single, double, and a sacrifice fly as the Cubs tied the game at 3-3, heading into the seventh inning.
"I made some bad pitches to good hitters," said Buehler after the game. "I was trying to get back into the swing of it, and those guys are guys you can't make pitches like that to."
Buehler (4-2), struggled again in the top of the seventh, allowing two doubles and a walk before exiting the game as the losing pitcher on record.
Buehler's ERA increased from 2.63 to 3.44 as the last-minute decision to scratch his rehab start in exchange for a relief appearance, likely cost the Dodgers the game.
"Obviously, when you look at the result, you probably regret the decision," said Roberts about foregoing Buehler's rehab start for a relief appearance. "Anytime he takes the mound we feel good and you have to give credit to those guys over there. They squared him up and took good at-bats."
Five batters later, Addison Russell punctuated a seven-run inning for the Cubs when he blew the doors off Dodger Stadium with a two-run homer that gave Chicago a 10-3 lead.
Russell went 2-for-4 on the day, and drove in a season-high four runs. The shortstop has hit well in the month of June, batting .328 with 12 runs, three doubles, two homers and seven RBI.
Justin Turner hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth that tied the Dodgers franchise record for most home runs in any given month, set by the 2017 team last June.
The Boys in Blue now have two games to break the franchise record in home runs as they chase the all-time record for June of 56, set by the 2017 Baltimore Orioles.
The seven runs allowed in the top of the seventh inning was the most runs allowed in an inning this season by Los Angeles.
With the victory, Chicago took the season series with the Dodgers, four games to three.
Up Next:
The Dodgers welcome NL West division rival the Colorado Rockies on Friday as LHP Tyler Anderson is expected to start against Rich Hill. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10PM PST.
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