CHICAGO — There’s a massive amount of pride that Dansby Swanson takes in his defense.

In a game predicated on failure, astuteness on the field is one area a player can control and bring to the field every day.

“Defense is always such a big part of this game, and it can bail you out in such big moments,” the Cubs’ Gold-Glove-winning shortstop said after the Cubs’ 6-0 win over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday.

Swanson pays such close attention to detail on defense, something that he developed playing baseball in the hotbed that is the Atlanta-metro area and refined playing at college powerhouse Vanderbilt University.

When he sees something minor, he capitalizes on it, and that can lead to substantial moments, like what happened in Tuesday’s win.

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Let’s rewind a bit and set the stage, in case you missed it.

Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd was cruising. He had retired the first 11 hitters he faced and hadn’t permitted a hit through the first four innings of the game. But he hit a speed bump in the fifth, allowing a leadoff single, then – following a groundout – permitting a bloop hit and a bunt single to load the bases with one out in a 2-0 game.

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Boyd threw a 1-1 slider low and outside that Kyle Isbel hit 70.9 mph towards Swanson at short. Swanson read the arc of the ball as it came off Isbel’s bat and charged towards second base, seeing that catcher Freddy Fermin had drifted far enough from the base. In a quick motion, Swanson snagged the ball out of the air and then dove to tag Fermin for an inning-ending double play that was overturned on review (Fermin was initially called safe on the field).

“There’s not really much thinking,” Swanson said. “It’s just all instinct, all kind of backyard baseball. All things that [I’ve] played this game for a really long time and have seen before, watched other people do and just instincts kind of take over.”

It seemed like such a routine play, but it required a high baseball IQ, like the one Swanson possesses.

“It’s almost knowing what’s going to happen before it happens, having every kind of play covered in his head,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “He’s just got – in basketball, they call it court awareness – it’s just this field awareness that Dansby is just really on top of. And he loves the details.

“He cherishes getting the details right and doing them well. And it shows up on the field all the time.”

It was a big out that kept the Royals off the board, but it preserved some bullets for Boyd, who’s been the Cubs’ best and most consistent starter this season. Instead of having to throw a few more stressful pitches in a two-run ball game, Boyd was able to head to the Cubs dugout, collect his breath and watch as his offense added an insurance run in the bottom half of the frame.

“You just save an at-bat, and you save a hitter where a hitter can just hit a blooper or whatever, and they score two runs,” Counsell said. “So it was a big play in the game, for sure. And just getting Matt out of that inning was a big deal.”

Boyd cruised after that. He pitched a perfect sixth and then worked around a two-out single by striking out Fermin and letting out a small yell and big fist pump.

“That play was huge at that point in the game,” Boyd said. “It could’ve been a tipping point. He continues to make great plays when the game is on the line. And that’s why he is who he is, right?

“He’s kind of the heartbeat with this ballclub, and it’s pretty cool to see him do those things.”