Swanson’s spectacular play saves Braves

ATLANTA — The fans flocked to Turner Field on Saturday night — 40,124 of them in fact, to pay homage to the ballpark in its penultimate game.

But after the Braves stormed out to a three-run lead through the first seven innings, the postseason-hungry Tigers looked to play spoilers when they loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth. Then, with Miguel Cabrera coming to the plate, Chaz Roe entered.

The right-hander struck out the Detroit slugger on four pitches, bringing J.D. Martinez to the plate. Like a rocket, the ball jumped off Martinez’s bat on the first pitch and appeared destined to skip into left field and score a pair of runs.

But ranging to his right, shortstop Dansby Swanson made a diving stop to corral the sharp grounder. He fired to second base to initiate an inning-ending double play, the highlight in Atlanta’s eventual 5-3 win.

“We just kind of had it shaded perfectly,” Swanson said. “Chaz made the pitch, a lot of them. He made some good ones. I …

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