Another cruel loss for Kenley Jansen and the Dodgers, this time 6-4 to the Cubs

Rarely do plans combust in such irritating fashion, as if the outcomes were scripted by a malevolent figure hoping to punish a front office for fiddling with a first-place team’s chemistry.

On Thursday, hours after the Dodgers traded away beloved backup catcher A.J. Ellis, the club nearly limped into a no-hitter. A day later, Ellis’ replacement, former Phillies stalwart Carlos Ruiz, could not handle the darting cutters of closer Kenley Jansen, a “lack of familiarity,” in the words of Manager Dave Roberts, that led to a 6-4 defeat in 10 innings to the Cubs.

“It was a tough loss,” Roberts said. “That’s a game that we wanted to win.”

A verdict on a trade should not be rendered after two games. The coming days and weeks will provide a more complete picture about how Ruiz can enhance the Dodgers’ roster and how the rest of the club can move forward after Ellis’ departure. But the first 19 innings without Ellis have been cruel to his club.

Clinging to a one-run lead in the ninth, Jansen served up a leadoff double to outfielder Jason Heyward. Preoccupied with Heyward behind him, Jansen still managed to strikeout outfielder Jorge Soler. But the last pitch bounced past Ruiz, and Heyward strode into third base.

The extra 90 feet proved critical. Jansen pumped an elevated cutter to catcher Miguel Montero, well above the strike zone. Ruiz raised his glove to grab it. The baseball squirted loose and went to the backstop. Heyward crossed the plate.

“I have no excuse,” Ruiz said. “I should have caught that ball. I don’t know what happened. It was the first time I ever caught him. His ball was moving really good. And it surprised me right there.”

An inning later, left-handed reliever Adam Liberatore yielded a two-run homer to third baseman Kris Bryant. It was Bryant’s second homer of the night, and it delighted a ballpark stocked with thousands of Cubs fans.

Those last two innings ruined what looked like a restorative victory. Instead the Dodgers (71-57) handed another game in the standings back to San Francisco. Los Angeles leads the National League West by one game. The matchups for this weekend favor the Giants. While the Dodgers tangle with the Cubs, San Francisco hosts the bottom-dwelling Braves.

Dodgers starter Bud Norris handed out four walks, but still restricted Chicago to one run in five innings. Joe Blanton breezed through the seventh inning, but surrendered a solo shot to Bryant in the eighth. Blanton recovered to collect all three outs in the eighth. Jansen blew his sixth save of the season.

Ruiz joined the team on Friday afternoon. Like Ellis, Ruiz had spent his entire career with the same team. The Phillies signed him out of Panama in 1998. He debuted in the majors eight years later, and spent a decade behind the plate in Philadelphia.

Ruiz loved his time as a Phillie. He re-signed there after the 2013 season, even as the team prepared to rebuild its core. But he welcomed the opportunity to compete once more in the playoffs.

“I can’t wait to play in October,” Ruiz said. “That’s my goal.”

On Friday, with left-hander Mike Montgomery starting for Chicago, Roberts put Ruiz into the starting lineup. Roberts stopped short of describing the catching situation as a platoon. Yasmani Grandal is the starter, Roberts insisted. But Ruiz should see consistent at-bats against left-handed pitchers.

In a break from routine, Roberts did not stack his lineup with right-handed hitters on Friday. He slotted Chase Utley into second base and Josh Reddick into right field. The two men made productive outs when the Dodgers scored their first run of the day.

Trailing by a run after Norris gave up two hits and a walk in the first, Enrique Hernandez led off the second with a walk. Montgomery hit Ruiz with a 1-2 fastball. Reddick smashed a grounder off Montgomery’s legs. Montgomery recovered to record the out, but both runners advanced. Hernandez scored on a groundout by Utley.

An inning later, the Dodgers manufactured another run to pull ahead. Howie Kendrick opened with a walk. Corey Seager stroked a grounder up the middle and hustled into second for a double. Justin Turner brought Kendrick home with a grounder to the left side.

The Dodgers used a similar tack in the fourth. Utley stroked a leadoff double. Norris poked a bunt single. Kendrick hit into a double play, a deflating outcome that still netted a run.

Norris found a rhythm during the middle innings. He had given up six runs in his last outing, sputtering through an abbreviated outing in Cincinnati. The Dodgers stuck with him against the Cubs, a team overflowing with talent.

Chicago flaunts the most complete roster in the sport. MVP candidates like Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Ben Zobrist power the offense. Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester anchor the rotation. The team acquired hard-throwing reliever Aroldis Chapman last month.

“They play hard,” Roberts said before the game. “They’re aggressive with the bats. They slug. They pitch. We’ve got to match that same intensity, and play a good baseball game.”

Norris quieted the Cubs for a while. At one point, he retired 10 batters in an 11-batter sequence. But he issued a leadoff walk in the fifth and walked Bryant with two outs. Rizzo punched an RBI single up the middle.

Up came Zobrist. Norris pumped a cutter at his waist. Zobrist was inches away from tying the game, until Utley slid across the grass and stole a hit.

Ruiz guided Pedro Baez through the sixth and he was reunited with Blanton, another former Phillie, for the next two innings. The last three outs were Jansen’s responsibility.

“We got the ball to the big fella,” Roberts said. “And it just doesn’t always work out.”

Roberts did not assign blame to Ruiz for the first wild pitch, after Soler struck out. “That’s a tough block for anyone,” Roberts said.

With Montero at the plate, Ruiz set up inside. Jensen fired a cutter up and away. Ruiz raised his glove to snag it. The baseball clipped the mitt and the lead was soon lost.

“He’s probably going to catch me more often,” Jansen said. “So we’ll get comfortable.”

After the game, Ruiz sounded remorseful. Jansen sounded angry. He declined to assign blame to Ruiz, a well-respected professional with a renowned reputation in Philadelphia. But the disconnect between the pair on the diamond was obvious.

“I don’t know what to say right now,” Jansen said. “We lost, man. We lost.”

andy.mccullough@latimes.com

Twitter: @McCulloughTimes