Swanson Bloodied But Stays In To Power Chicago Cubs Past Nationals

The Chicago Cubs were powered past the Washington Nationals as shortstop Dansby Swanson showed some true grit.

Dansby Swanson suffered a bloody cut above his right eye following a headfirst slide into second base on a double.

Two innings later, he ripped a two-run home run.

That’s leadership.

Swanson’s power helped the Chicago Cubs snap a three-game losing streak in a 5-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Monday.

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

“Being out there is a priority for him, and he'll go out there not 100 percent a lot of the time,” manager David Ross added of Swanson, who signed a seven-year, $177 million deal in the offseason. “I don't think you play 162 and not be a gamer, right? That’s the definition of someone who plays every single day.”

According to MLB.com, since the start of 2020, Swanson has appeared in 409 of 412 possible regular-season games, including 208 in a row at one stretch.

“I just love playing,” Swanson told reporters. “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.”

None of this is surprising. Swanson has always been a gamer. When he signed with the Cubs, he immediately made them better in a plethora of ways. This was evident on Monday. This will be evident all season.

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