NEW YORK — Hours after coming off the injured list, Mets second baseman Robinson Cano left Wednesday night’s game against the San Francisco Giants with tightness in his left quadriceps.
Cano, playing for the first time since straining his left quadriceps May 22, favored his left leg running to first base on a bases-loaded double play in the third. He limped coming out of the box and was beaten to the bag by about a step to end the inning.
Cano, who finished 0-for-2 with an RBI groundout in the first, was pulled to begin the fifth inning and was replaced by Adeiny Hechavarria at second base. The Mets won 7-0.
Cano said before the game he would be cautious to avoid re-injury, noting it might take a few games before he felt 100 percent.
Acquired last offseason from Seattle, Cano is hitting .238 with three homers and 14 RBIs for New York. He has been criticized for failing to hustle on a few ground-ball outs this season, then was injured running hard on a groundout two weeks ago.
Cano ran the bases and did other exercises Monday and Tuesday and was cleared after waking up feeling well Wednesday.
Outfielder Aaron Altherr was designated for assignment to open a roster spot.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.