Dansby Swanson’s awful base-running blunder costs Cubs tying run in tight loss to Reds

Dansby Swanson will be haunted by this base-running blunder for a little while. 

The Cubs’ shortstop missed getting his foot on first base in the seventh inning after hitting a chopper to third base and seeming to beat out the throw, thus driving in the game-tying run. 

However, the excitement quickly shifted to agony and disbelief after the play was challenged, and video review showed that he didn’t get his foot on the bag in time, leading to the final out of the inning and negating the run. 

That run not scoring loomed large since the Cubs could not overcome that one-run deficit in their 3-2 home loss that dropped them three games behind the Brewers in the NL Central.

“I felt like I was a little bit short. I didn’t think I was as short as the replay was,” Swanson told reporters about the misstep.

“I know I touched it at some point, I just didn’t know when in the process. I don’t know if I’ve ever done that in my baseball life, to be honest. Pretty unfortunate timing on the night.” 

Had Swanson touched the base and gotten the call, it would have been the second time in the game that he had come up big for the Cubs when they needed it.

He had helped the Cubs erase an early deficit in the bottom of the third inning when he hit a two-run home run with Chicago trailing, 1-0. 

The two-run blast was his 17th home run of the season and gave the Cubs the lead. 

Elly De La Cruz laced a game-tying RBI double in the sixth inning and TJ Friedl hit a single in the top of the seventh to give the Reds the lead.

The Cubs (65-47) own the NL’s top wild card spot, while the Reds (59-54) are three games behind the Padres for the third and final spot.