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For as well as the Los Angeles Dodgers have played over the past month-plus, all their good vibes were dashed on Sunday. That's because ace Clayton Kershaw departed his start against the Atlanta Braves (GameTracker) after two innings due to lower back tightness, per the Dodgers PR staff.

Here's more on Kershaw's day, via MLB.com's Ken Gurnick: 

With two out in the second inning, Kershaw bounced a 2-0 curveball to Tyler Flowers, threw a fastball for a called strike and out of the dugout came manager Dave Roberts and a trainer. Kershaw took two warm-up throws, threw ball four to Flowers, then struck out Matt Adams to end the inning.

But he walked back to the dugout slowly, spoke to two trainers while sitting on the bench, then left with them to the clubhouse while Ross Stripling warmed up in the bullpen.

After the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters that this is a "disabled list situation," so expect the Dodgers to place Kershaw on the 10-day DL Monday. 

Kershaw, of course, missed more than two months in 2016 due to back woes (specifically a herniated disk that he said during the winter had healed), so this is not the news L.A. fans would want to hear when it comes to the star ace. Dodgers fans, for their part, were hoping that Kershaw's depature had more to do with an illness. Some Dodgers are currently dealing with what's been described by third baseman Justin Turner as bronchitis: 

Thus concludes probably the only time in baseball history that fans were hoping their best player was dealing with mucous membrane inflammation. 

Kershaw is in the midst of another impossibly good season. He entered Sunday with a 2.07 ERA and a 7.22 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 20 starts.

The Dodgers, by the way, have been connected to Rangers ace Yu Darvish. With Kershaw likely to miss time -- significant or otherwise -- expect those talks to gain momentum between now and the July 31 deadline.