The New York Mets employee who suffered through an awful weekend, Robinson Cano, was the same man who witnessed the Amed Rosario hustle show.
Sometimes, the baseball gods throw a party. They’ll make some popcorn, kick their feet up and remind us mere mortals every now and again that they are in charge and nobody, not even Pete Rose, can serve as a guard of the old school.
Such a party happened in Flushing on Tuesday night.
With runners on second and third with two outs, Amed Rosario’s shot to collect his first big-league walk-off ribbie came to fruition. Instead of a classic up-the-middle base knock, a long hop to short allowed Rosario to showcase a little Citi Field hustle.
With Robby Cano in the on-deck circle, it's HUSTLE that wins it for the Mets. #LGM pic.twitter.com/yTuzkze0tA
— ESNY (@EliteSportsNY) May 22, 2019
Speed, of course, served as the key element in the New York Mets game-winning equation. But if not for a bust-out springing from the batter’s box, the game heads to extra innings.
This is the critical aspect that has the gods playing games on all of us …
Robinson Cano was readying himself in the on-deck circle. The man who suffered through two recent inexcusable examples of loafing it owned the best seat in the house.
The baseball gods placed Robinson Cano in the on-deck circle, the best seat in the house on this Amed Rosario bust out of the box, his first walk-off ribbie. Pretty fitting. #LGM pic.twitter.com/itLJdgiROJ
— ESNY (@EliteSportsNY) May 22, 2019
Just two days after failing to run out a double-play ball while blaming it on a scoreboard malfunction, Cano put up an incredible repeat performance in Miami this past weekend.
Robinson Cano fails to run it out yet again. It's a clubhouse killing move. #LGM (Via SNY) pic.twitter.com/NSiiScVPQ4
— ESNY (@EliteSportsNY) May 19, 2019
After failing to take any action on Sunday, Mickey Callaway benched the veteran second baseman on Monday, a move widely criticized. Benching him on the road on Sunday while making sure he played on Monday would have brought justice. The Flushing crowd would have taken it into their own hands, or, more appropriately, voices.
In his lone pinch-hitting appearance on Monday night, Cano received the message loud and clear. His 8.43-second time from home to second base on a double marks his fastest time since 2016, according to Statcast.
“It should have been,” Callaway said with a chuckle, via Greg Joyce of the New York Post. “It better have been. … I guess he got the hint.”
Prior to the game, Cano continued his usual mild-mannered tone, fully admitting fault.
“We didn’t get into that detail,” Cano said before the game. “That’s something that, I accept my mistake. [I] made that error. I apologized and I’m going to keep doing the leader role and lead by example.”
Tuesday’s thrilling 6-5 victory would have been all for naught if not for Pete Alonso. The Polar Bear’s clutch eighth-inning home run that tied the ballgame at six placed the club right back in the game after Jeurys Familia continued throwing horrid relief-pitching ball, relenting two runs after entering with a one-run lead.
How special is this guy? Whenever the Mets need a big home run, it's Pete Alonso time. #LGM pic.twitter.com/V8EbLD0EA6
— ESNY (@EliteSportsNY) May 22, 2019
Alonso’s 16th of the season comes in the clutch fashion so many of his moonshots have during this young rookie campaign.
In the end, this night belonged to Rosario and the baseball gods. His immediate jump out of the box proved as the difference, barely beating out Trea Turner‘s throw after a tough long hop that forced him to stay deep.
“The moment I hit that ball, I immediately thought I have to get there,” Rosario said through a translator, via AP.
Better than the baseball god narrative is the idea the right man was in the on-deck circle at the right moment. Of the 10s of thousands at Citi Field on Tuesday night, nobody possessed a better seat in the house for the on-field nitty-gritty Amed Rosario brought to his team than Robinson Cano.
