Atlanta Braves: 3 takeaways from comeback win over the Cardinals in Game 3

2. A potential coming-out series for Dansby

Going into Sunday evening’s Game 3 matchup, Dansby Swanson had hit safely in both games prior, part of his 2-for-7 start (including an RBI in Game 1 on Thursday).

Swanson was huge both with the bat and glove in Sunday’s win, as he made a bare-handed play from short in the 4th inning, plus a quick field-and-throw to get a hustling Kolton Wong at first in the 9th.

All of that of course couldn’t come close to what he did in the Braves’ half of the 9th inning — the team’s last hope.

We’ll get to what the Braves did in that inning in more detail later on, but to make a long story short: Dansby made the Cardinals pay — they intentionally walked Brian McCann to get to Swanson — by jumping all over a Carlos Martinez slider and banging it off the bottom of the left field wall for an RBI double.

The drive by Swanson scored a pinch-running Billy Hamilton and set up more late-innings heroics for Adam Duvall, placing a pinch-running Rafael Ortega at third base.

Now after three playoff games and a 3-for-4 finish on Sunday in Game 3, Swanson is hitting a cool .455 with two doubles and two RBI.

Atlanta Braves baseball is always more exciting when Swanson is playing well, as he has always been a player that plays with a ton of emotion.

I love the advanced metrics and stats that come with baseball, but Swanson’s a perfect example of baseball’s intangibles — the aspects of the game that cannot be measured or quantified. When the moment’s all his, he has really developed an ability to come away with a big play.

The Braves will continue to flourish in this series with Dansby keeping up the good work.