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WASHINGTON — Robinson Cano had more than a year to work on his bunting.
Whether or not that’s truly something he practiced during his season-long suspension, it sure looked that way Thursday when Cano smoothly dropped down a shift-beating running bunt that started a tiebreaking two-run rally to fuel the Mets’ 5-1 victory against the Nationals.
“One of the biggest parts of the game was Robby’s leadoff bunt,” manager Buck Showalter said. “Isn’t it funny how good things seem to follow things like that?”
A surprise insertion into the Opening Day lineup with Brandon Nimmo (stiff neck) sidelined, Cano scored two runs in his first MLB action since Sept. 27, 2020. Two months later, he was suspended for the entire 2021 season — the penalty for a second career positive test for a banned performance-enhancing substance.
Batting sixth and starting at second base as the left-handed hitter chosen over Dominic Smith to face southpaw Patrick Corbin, Cano might have won back a few fans by executing the play purists scream for all the time. With three infielders on the right side and the third baseman’s heels at shortstop, Cano pushed a hard bunt precisely to the vacated corner spot.
“If they’re going to play like that this year,” Cano told The Post, “I’m going to take that single.”
The Mets followed with a walk, a single in which Cano did not test center fielder Victor Robles’ arm and a hit by pitch with the bases loaded and no outs to score the game’s first run.
Cano, 39, was in the thick of things when the Mets doubled their lead to 4-0 in the sixth. He extended what seemed like a harmless threat by walking to put two on with two outs, ahead of back-to-back RBI singles by Mark Canha and Jeff McNeil.
“It was exciting to be back and spend time with the guys,” Cano said. “And win the first game.”
Maybe it shouldn’t have been a surprise after he hit .360 over eight Grapefruit League games, but Cano went 2-for-3 (leadoff single in the eighth) before he was pulled for a pinch runner.
With Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar and Canha as fresh faces in the lineup, Cano represented a throwback to a disappointing era before owner Steve Cohen, general manager Billy Eppler and Showalter arrived.
Cano came through in a return somewhat overshadowed by other storylines, though not with the power hitting that he made his pinstripes signature. He once bunted for a double in a 2013 Yankees-Red Sox game.
“I was fast back then,” Cano quipped.
Cano, who will play some first base this season, also helped Tylor Megill escape one of the two jams he faced during five scoreless innings when he scooped up a grounder moving to his right and touched the second-base bag to strand runners on the corners in the third. He later couldn’t come up cleanly with a similar play, though it was ruled a hit.
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