Cano: Confusion over outs led to lack of hustle

MIAMI -- With the Mets rallying against the Marlins on Friday night, veteran Robinson Canó's effort came into question during a pivotal sequence.

Trailing the Marlins by four runs in the seventh inning, Cano stepped to the plate with one out and two runners on. He proceeded to bounce a ball back to southpaw Adam Conley, who turned a 1-6-3 double play to avoid further damage.

Cano didn't run out the grounder, something that was brought up following the 8-6 loss at Marlins Park. Though New York's second baseman didn't speak to media then, he did address the situation on Saturday.

After the incident, Cano proactively went to Mets manager Mickey Callaway to explain what happened. Per the eight-time All-Star, the scoreboard read two outs. The mix-up appeared to take place when Juan Lagares, the second batter of the inning, had a two-strike foul tip initially put down as the second out. Instead, Lagares would single before J.D. Davis homered, cutting the deficit to 7-3.

Following a pitching change, Brandon Nimmo singled and Amed Rosario walked to set up a Marlins mound visit ahead of Cano's at-bat.

"That's why I went to Mickey," Cano said. "I said, 'That's not me.' The board says two outs. It was a game again. ... Even I was talking to [Rosario] in the dugout and he said, 'Woah, we got two runs after two outs.' If I had known it wasn't two outs, it would've been a different story for me. I would run my ass off."

When asked whether he considered sitting Cano, who started at second base and hit third, on Saturday to send a message, Callaway said no. At the same time, the skipper reiterated that players need to be aware of how many outs there are and that there needs to be respectable effort based on the situation.

"I think it's not about sending messages, it's about doing what's right and what's wrong," Callaway said. "We talked about it. He understands that can't happen again. You don't just reprimand people to send a message to the rest of the team. You do things for the right reason. I think they all understand, the whole team understands what happened, and I know Robbie does, and he has that expectation that it can't happen again."

Vargas' plan
Left-hander Jason Vargas departed Marlins Park on Saturday afternoon for a rehab start with Double-A Binghamton in Trenton, N.J.

Vargas, who has been on the injured list with left hamstring tightness since May 6, will throw between 75-80 pitches on Sunday. According to Callaway, there is a possibility that will be Vargas' only rehab outing before being reinstated.

McNeil returns to lineup
Jeff McNeil, who had been dealing with lower abdominal tightness since Thursday, hit leadoff and started in left field on Saturday. The decision was made after he ran and was reevaluated by the training staff during optional batting practice.

Worth noting
The Mets optioned right-hander Paul Sewald to Triple-A Syracuse as the corresponding roster move for lefty Steven Matz, who was activated from the IL to start on Saturday. Sewald threw two innings in Friday's loss, hours after being recalled from the Minors.