NEW YORK _ The never-ending story of Robinson Cano not running out ground balls _ which premiered in the Bronx more than a decade ago and now is getting a revival in Queens _ got another episode Monday.
Manager Mickey Callaway benched Cano against the Nationals, in part, he said, because of eight-time All-Star second baseman's lack of hustle over the weekend, when he failed to run out a pair of double-play grounders in Miami. Facing a tough left-handed starter, Washington's Patrick Corbin, and Cano needing a day off during a long stretch with no team off days were also factors.
But Cano said Callaway did not mention his lack of hustle as a reason Cano was out of the lineup.
"Those are the reasons. I think they're all just," Callaway said. "I had several conversations with Cano over the last few days ... He understands that it's unacceptable to (not) run balls out."
Said Cano: "We didn't get into that."
Cano didn't run out grounders on Friday (when he didn't know how many outs there were) and Sunday (when he thought the ball was foul). Callaway didn't take major issue with either scenario, saying Sunday that Cano "realizes he has to run" but it wasn't enough to take the player out of the game.
The owner of a .245/.293/.374 slash line entering play Monday, Cano said he took ownership of his mess-ups with his teammates.
"I apologized, and I'm going to keep doing the leader role and lead by example," Cano said. "It's a mistake, just move on."
