Before the sixth inning began, shortstop Dansby Swanson strode from his spot at shortstop back to the dugout.
Nick Madrigal jogged out to second base, stuffing a card into his back pocket, as the Cubs made the last-minute substitution. Second baseman Nico Hoerner moved to the other side of second base to replace Swanson on defense.
The Cubs later announced Swanson had left the game with “lower left side tightness.”
Manager David Ross described Swanson’s ailment as cramping. Swanson said his body was exhausted.
He’d been up since 4 a.m. and spent most of the day at the hospital with US women’s national soccer team star Mallory Swanson, his wife. She underwent surgery on the torn patella tendon in her left knee Tuesday.
“Been a long day,” Dansby Swanson said. “But glad that we can be here together. I couldn’t imagine being apart right now.”
Swanson said he hadn’t wanted to come out of the game but thought it was the smart move to avoid injury.
Swanson, who the Cubs signed to a seven-year, $177 million contract this offseason, has been one of the team’s best hitters to start the season. He recorded four more hits Tuesday before exiting the game, bringing his slash line to .400/.467/.450.
Swanson has only missed one game since the beginning of the 2020 season.
