Dansby triumphs after dropping battle with helmet

WASHINGTON — Over the years, Dansby Swanson has garnered a repute as a hard-nosed participant. He proved why whereas re-earning that distinction Monday night time at Nationals Park.

Not solely did Swanson’s uniform want correct cleansing, his face wanted new bandaging after he starred within the Cubs’ 5-1 victory over the Nationals that snapped their three-game dropping skid. The large swing of the night time got here from Swanson, who cranked a game-breaking two-run homer within the fifth, two innings after he incurred a bloody gash above his proper eye throughout a headfirst slide into second base on a double.

“Third time in my career I’ve been attacked by my own helmet,” Swanson stated. “I’m 0-for-3 in terms of wins against the helmet.”

Swanson’s helmet was already on its manner off by the point he slid arduous into second baseman Luis García’s tag within the third inning, the shortstop smelling a hustle double when Victor Robles was gradual to play his line drive into left-center area. As it wobbled, the within of the helmet scraped Swanson’s face. García’s proper arm knocked it off fully, leaving Swanson’s face uncovered when García reached along with his glove hand to use the late tag.

The ensuing gash was completely the helmet’s fault and occurred earlier than the tag, Swanson later clarified. All the identical, blood trailed down his face when he stood safely on the second-base bag.

“It was super-coincidental bad luck,” Swanson stated. “Maybe I’ll turn my face the other way or slide feetfirst next time and hopefully avoid cutting my face open again.”

Said supervisor David Ross: “He said he must have watched too much playoff hockey last night.”

Ross cleaned the wound after the play, with Cubs assistant athletic coach Neil Rampe making use of a bandage. Swanson completed the body (he was stranded), accomplished the subsequent two defensive innings unfazed and pounced on MacKenzie Gore’s second pitch in his subsequent at-bat, depositing it into the Cubs’ bullpen for his second homer of the 12 months.

That was all of the assist successful pitcher Drew Smyly wanted. The veteran left-hander twirled seven innings of one-run ball for his third win. Swanson completed with three hits.

Asked later if the wound would require extra therapy or stitching, Swanson shrugged off considerations, saying: “They’ll probably just glue it together.”

Just one other day on the workplace, eh?

“Being out there is a priority for him, and he’ll go out there not 100 percent a lot of the time,” Ross stated. “I don’t think you play 162 and not be a gamer, right? That’s the definition of someone who plays every single day.”

Smyly additionally referred to as Swanson a “gamer,” as coaches, gamers and evaluators have all through his profession. As considered one of baseball’s most sturdy gamers, he definitely personifies the time period. The recreation Swanson missed on April 12 was his first since 2021. He appeared in each recreation for the Braves final season.

Since the beginning of 2020, Swanson has appeared in 409 of 412 attainable regular-season video games, together with 208 in a row at one level.

“We know he’s going to be out there every single day,” stated Smyly, who shaved his ERA to 2.83 in six begins. “He doesn’t come out of games. I played with him in Atlanta. He plays through injuries.”

Which is why no person within the Cubs’ dugout was stunned when Swanson’s gash didn’t power him out, irrespective of how gnarly it regarded. And no person was stunned by the best way he responded.

“I just love playing,” Swanson stated. “I love winning and competing, and when you’ve got a great group of guys like we do, you do it for each other. You never want to disappoint anyone, never let anyone down. That’s one of my biggest fears: letting people around me down. So you just kind of strap it up each day no matter what’s going on, and you go about it.”