PHOENIX -- The ball left Corbin Carroll¡¯s bat at just 46 mph -- the high fastball from Ryan Pressly having gotten in on his hands -- and the ball floated over the mound and struck the grass just shy of the dirt at shortstop.
As soon as the ball hit the ground, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo, a former big league infielder, knew instinctively that there was no way Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson was going to be able to throw the speedy Carroll out at first.
¡°Dansby is a crafty player, he¡¯s very heady and he was very aware of that,¡± Lovullo said after the game ended 4-3 in the Cubs¡¯ favor Saturday night at Chase Field.
Just how did Swanson ensure that outcome?
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, two runners aboard and his team desperately trying to hang onto a one-run lead, Swanson had one other recourse to get the game¡¯s final out.
¡°Corbin Carroll can obviously really get down the line,¡± Swanson said. ¡°There¡¯s not really going to be a play there. But at the end of the day, you¡¯ve got to make everybody think that you¡®re making a play there, which you¡¯re kind of a step ahead. That¡¯s kind of what happened."
Pinch-runner Garrett Hampson was approaching third as Swanson fielded the ball. Knowing he didn¡¯t have a play at first, Swanson faked his throw there in hopes of getting Hampson to take too aggressive of a turn at third base.
Hampson, who won the last spot on the position player roster this past week, was trying to make a play. So when he saw Swanson start his throwing motion to first, he kept on rounding third base.
¡°Corbin hit it softly, so just trying to be aggressive,¡± Hampson said. ¡°And maybe if they throw it to first, try to score the tying run.¡±
It was the perfect storm, a heads up defender and a pinch-runner desperate to make a play.
¡°He's in the game to steal a base,¡± Lovullo said of Hampson. ¡°He's in the game to score a run, make something happen. So, he's edgy, he's on edge. And we've all been there in life, right? When you want something so bad, you're just gassed up and ready to do it. I just think he had to slow down the moment, understand the type of play that needed to be made and exactly what Corbin was going to be doing down the line.¡±
After he faked his throw, Swanson ran right toward third base as Hampson stopped and tried to get back. Hampson almost managed to get around Swanson. Hampson dove for the base, Swanson dove to tag Hampson and got him before he could get to the bag.
¡°Thankfully, he kind of overran the base enough to where his momentum just kind of kept carrying him, to where I was kind of already running right at him,¡± Swanson said. ¡°So it worked out perfectly in our favor. I¡¯m glad we got a win.¡±
Cubs manager Craig Counsell, another former big league infielder, said it was another example of what makes Swanson such a special player.
"It was those three words that I¡¯ve used: experienced, instinctual, athletic,¡± Counsell said. ¡°It was the definition of those three things. It was just a brilliant play. It¡¯s a play that, in real time, you just think about it -- he¡¯s thinking about that play before he catches the ball. In that time from when it¡¯s hit to when he catches it -- which was what, a second? ¨C that¡¯s what¡¯s running through his mind. That¡¯s just great instincts, man. It¡¯s incredible. He took a good angle on it and got a really athletic guy and made a great tag."
Swanson said that when he was playing at Vanderbilt University, their coach, Tim Corbin, covered plays just like the one that happened Saturday instructing his players how to approach it and also having them visualize doing so.
That preparation paid off big for the Cubs as it saved them from blowing a 4-1 lead as they managed to hang on for the win and a chance to take three of four in the series, which concludes Sunday.
¡°Credit to Dansby,¡± Hampson said. ¡°That was a great play.¡±