The Chicago Cubs consider their instincts and athleticism team strengths, and both came into play on Saturday.
That was evident when Chicago shortstop Dansby Swanson turned Corbin Carroll’s infield single into a game-ending out in the Cubs’ 4-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, and the Cubs will look to win the four-game series Sunday afternoon in Phoenix.
“It was just a brilliant play,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said.
With two on and two out in the ninth inning, Carroll hit a floater toward the hole at shortstop. Swanson fielded it and bluffed a throw to first before immediately pivoting toward third, where he ran down pinch runner Garrett Hampson, who had taken a wide turn.
“Pace of play and speed of the game,” Swanson said. “Corbin Carroll obviously can really get down the line. Not really going to be a play there. At the end of the day, you have to make everybody think you are making a play there but you are a step ahead.
“Thankfully he overran the base enough when his momentum kept carrying him to where I was already running right at him. It worked out perfectly in our favor.”
Swanson’s play was not the Cubs’ only athletic gem as they gain their footing stateside following a two-game sweep by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Tokyo Series to start their season. The Cubs have won two of the first three games in Phoenix.
Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong threw out Josh Naylor trying to tag from second base and advance with an on-target throw from deep center field for a double play to end the Arizona fourth.
Crow-Armstrong, known for his speed, also scored from first in the Cubs’ half of the fourth on a Miguel Amaya double down the left field line.
Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suarez will look to extend his power surge Sunday, when Arizona’s Eduardo Rodriguez faces fellow left-hander Matthew Boyd.
Suarez has a franchise-record four homers in the first three games of the series, and his two-run shot in the ninth inning Saturday brought Arizona close before Swanson shut the door.
Boyd will make his first start for the Cubs after signing a two-year, $29 million free agent deal over the winter.
Boyd has been plagued by arm injuries — flexor tendon surgery in 2021 and Tommy John surgery in 2023 — but he showed no ill effects last season, going 2-2 with a 2.72 ERA in eight starts with Cleveland after joining the rotation on Aug. 13.
Boyd is 0-2 with a 6.55 ERA in two career starts against the Diamondbacks.
Rodriguez will make his start after an injury-disrupted first season with Arizona.
Rodriguez was the Diamondbacks’ top free-agent addition before the 2024 season, signing a four-year, $80 million contract, but he suffered a shoulder injury during spring training that kept him out for four months.
He returned Aug. 7 and beat the Guardians in the first game of a doubleheader at Cleveland, and he finished 3-4 with a 5.04 ERA in 10 starts. On Sept. 18, he struck out a season-high 11 in a 9-4 victory over Colorado, the only time he pitched into the seventh inning, and the Diamondbacks are counting on more length this season.
Rodriguez gave up one run on five hits and struck out nine in six innings in his only previous career against the Cubs, a no-decision while with Boston in 2017.
–Field Level Media
