Two days after not running hard on a 1-6-3 double play and using the excuse that he thought there were two outs instead of one, Mets second baseman Robinson Cano didn't move at all on another double play he hit into.
This time, Cano hit a ball right in front of the plate and stared directly at it while not running at all.
The play happened in the top of the fourth inning with J.D. Davis on first base and one out. Cano swung and tapped the ball, with it winding up right in front of the plate and rolling slightly down the first base line. While Cano was staring at the ball and not moving, the Marlins turned an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play.
After the play, Mets manager Mickey Callaway came out of the dugout for a brief discussion with the home plate umpire. The replay, however, showed the ball was clearly fair and that the call was correct.
After the play, Cano was seen in discussion in the dugout with quality control coach Luis Rojas. He also briefly chatted with Jeurys Familia.
Cano was not benched on Saturday for Friday night's transgression, with Callaway saying he wasn't going to bench him just to send a message.
"We talked about it and he understands that can't happen again," Callaway explained before Saturday's game. "You don't just reprimand people to send a message to the rest of the team."
Speaking after Callaway, Cano told reporters that he would have run his "ass off" Friday night if he had known there was one out instead of two.
"I've run hard all year," Cano added.
Not knowing how many outs there were during the double play on Friday night was something Cano blamed on the scoreboard at Marlins Park, with Callaway saying after the game that there were other instances Friday night where the scoreboard had the incorrect number of outs.
As far as Sunday afternoon? Cano's decision to not run was indefensible.
"I can't defend Robinson on that one," Keith Hernandez said in the WPIX booth.
"I just don't understand what his protest was," Gary Cohen added.
And while the main issue here is Cano's total lack of effort, another issue is the fact that he wasn't pulled from the game by Callaway right after his pathetic display.