Robinson Cano finally delivered a clutch hit on Saturday, but his night ended soon after when he was double-switched out of a 5-4 loss to Atlanta.
Cano’s sixth-inning single gave the Mets their first lead, but he was removed for Seth Lugo to start the seventh, as manager Mickey Callaway looked to get two innings out of the right-hander.
Callaway admitted it was difficult to take the high-priced second baseman out after he’d started to show signs of breaking out of what has been essentially a season-long slump, but there was little other choice.
“It is [tough], but you have to do it right there to get Lugo to go two innings,’’ the manager said of Cano, who has multi-hit games in each of his past two starts and three of his past four.