Cubs' strong defense keeps them 'a step ahead'
PHOENIX – For a moment, it looked like the Diamondbacks were going to pull off a comeback Saturday. Cubs closer Ryan Pressly had drawn soft contact from Corbin Carroll. But the blooper was so soft and so short that he was going to be able to run out the play.
The Cubs were clinging to a one-run advantage in the ninth inning, but with two runners already on base, that lead was precarious as shortstop Dansby Swanson picked up the ball on a bounce and drew back his arm to throw to first.
But he held onto the ball.
The fake throw was convincing enough that Garrett Hampson, who had rounded third, was caught flat-footed off the bag. Swanson followed his momentum to cut off Hamson’s route back to third and made a diving tag for the final out of the Cubs’ 4-3 victory.
“The three words that I've used – experienced, instinctual, athletic – it was the definition of those three things,” manager Craig Counsell said. “It was just a brilliant play.”
The Cubs were built to be a strong defensive team. And while they’ve had defensive highlights in other games – as well as two errors in the Tokyo Series – no other contest exemplified the edge it could give them like their nail-biting win on Saturday.
The game both ended in a defensive gem in the infield and featured a momentum-swinging assist from center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong when it was still tied.
With one out in the fourth inning, and Josh Naylor on second base, Gabriel Moreno hit a fly ball into right-center field.
"It's one of those balls that gets hit, and and you think, ‘Well, he's going to tag, and there's no chance,’” Counsell said.
According to Crow-Armstrong, he’d had a conversation with Swanson earlier in the game about using his natural talents – one of which is arm strength. So, the center fielder moved through the catch and let his throw fly, trusting that it was a far enough target that he wouldn’t overthrow it.
“I just took a chance,” he said, adding that he had no clue whether it would pay off. “I just watched the ball fall.”
It landed right in third baseman Gage Workman’s glove in front of the bag.
Initially Naylor was called safe, but a replay review overturned the call. The double play ended the inning. And Counsell pointed out that the pitches it saved starter Shota Imanaga helped him get through seven innings.
Said Swanson, with a smile: “I keep saying it was a great throw; I'm never going to tell him that. He's got all the gifts in the world, he's got all the talent in the world. It's just about putting it on display and trusting himself.”
Crow-Armstrong, who was sitting a couple lockers away, similarly downplayed Swanson’s play.
“It's not that surprising,” he said. “He makes a lot of those types of plays. He's a very smart person and player.”
He made a walk-off defensive play – a diving stop up the middle and win-clinching throw home – in the very same building seven years ago with the Braves.
“In college, man, we went over every play under the sun all the time,” Swanson said of his time at Vanderbilt. “And stuff like that I've visualized, practiced, done a million times.”
On Saturday, it was practically second nature.
“Corbin Carroll, obviously, can really get down the line,”Swanson said. “Not really going to be a play there, but at the end of the day, got to make everybody think that you're making a play there. But you're kind of a step ahead.”