It happens to all of us – ‘One of those days’ … or in the case of Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig, ‘One of those nights.’

It all started in the bottom of the second inning when, with one out and Dodgers center fielder Cody Bellinger standing on third base, having just singled in the first run of the game, taking second base on the throw home, and advancing to third when the ball got away from Chicago Cubs catcher Willson Contreras. It was a gift card just waiting to be redeemed.

It didn’t happen.

Instead, Puig hit a hard grounder to Cubs third baseman Javier Baez [more on him later], with Bellinger running on contact. Baez immediately threw home and caught the speedy Bellinger in a short rundown.

For reason that only he knows, Puig, who ran down the line quickly, never even glanced over his shoulder to see what was happening. Had he done so, he would have seen the rundown and undoubtedly would have immediately taken off for second base.

He did not.

Instead, he ran through the bag at first and it wasn’t until Dodgers first base coach George Lombard yelled at him to “Go go go” that Puig finally realized that this was not a routine running on contact play. Puig turned towards second – thereby now making him ‘in play’ – but by the time he finally realized that his brief shot at taking second base was now gone, he was tagged out on Baez’s throw to Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo for a rare 5-2-5-3 double play to end the inning.

And then things really went bad for the oft-controversial 27-year-old Cienfuegos, Cuba native.

For whatever reason, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts elected to remove starting pitcher Ross Stripling, who has been the Dodgers best pitcher thus far this season, at 86 pitches. He was replaced by hard-throwing right-hander Yimi Garcia who, quite frankly, has been horrible of late, with a (now) 1-2 record and 4.76 ERA. It was a move that had everyone – except Dave Roberts – squirming in their seats.

After allowing a leadoff single to Contreras and getting the always-dangerous Kyle Schwarber to pop out to short, Garcia got Cubs center fielder Ian Happ to hit a routine flyball to Puig that he normally could have caught with his eyes closed.

He did not.

Instead, the ball hit the top of his glove and bounced off for an error that allowed Contreras to take third and Happ second. Instead of two outs and a runner at first, it was now still one out with two runners in scoring position.

…and they both did, and then some.

Dodger fans are spoiled in that they expect Puig to catch every ball hit to him … always. And even though Puig will be the very first to admit that he should have made this one, it was just one of those days for the usually perfect Dodgers right fielder. (Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)

Garcia then gave up an infield single to Cubs shortstop Addison Russell, which was followed by a strikeout of Cubs pinch-hitter Tommy La Stella for what should have been the final out of the inning.

It was not.

Roberts then decided to bring in left-hander Edward Paredes to face Cubs second baseman Ben Zobrist, who promptly singled to left. Paredes then walked Cubs right fielder Jayson Hayward to load the bases for (wait for it…) Javier Baez, who absolutely crushed Paredes’ 3-2 fastball that was right down Broadway for a back-breaking grand slam that pretty much ended the game.

Although it was Puig’s error that allowed the inning to continue and made all three of Garcia’s runs unearned, It was Roberts decision to pull Ross Stripling – his staff ace – that will forever be questioned by Dodger fans.

“He just wasn’t sharp tonight, wasn’t sharp,” Roberts told reporters after the game in what was clearly an attempt to justify his questionable decision. “Tonight was a grind for Ross. Outside of that first inning, then after that, couldn’t put hitters away and he just wasn’t as crisp as he has been all year.

“So, through five innings, I saw where his pitch count was – 86 pitches – understanding you still got to cover four innings. Just felt that to get a fresh arm would give us a better chance to get through the four innings,” Roberts added. “To be quite honest, we make some plays out there, there were some bad walks out there when the guys came in and we just didn’t get it done.”

Was Roberts watching the same game that the rest of us were? Ross Stripling did a great job. He allowed only one run (Javier Baez’s first home run of the night – a solo shot in the top of the fifth inning) on seven hits, with one walk and four strikeouts; whereas Garcia allowed three (unearned) runs on two hits, with one strikeout in 0.2 innings pitched for the blown save and eventual 9-4 Dodgers loss.

Of course, the single, walk, and grand slam given up by Paredes certainly didn’t help matters either, but the bottom line is that Puig’s error was the game changer.

Just one of those days.