New York Post

‘Negligence’ as Marlin steals home

- By GREG JOYCE would say: “Rats.”)

The Mets were on their way to getting swept in Tuesday’s doublehead­er when they added a dose of embarrassm­ent to an already rough night.

After Jon Berti led off the bottom of the sixth inning of Game 2 with a walk, the Marlins outfielder stole second, stole third and then finished off his trip around the bases by stealing home after catcher Ali Sanchez had thrown the ball back to pitcher Jeurys Familia.

Berti stumbled on his way home, but it didn’t even matter, as Sanchez couldn’t handle Familia’s throw back to him and Berti crossed the plate standing up to add an insurance run in the Marlins 3-0 win at Citi Field.

“It’s negligence on our end,” manager Luis Rojas said.

“Definitely aggressive baserunnin­g. One of the things that distinguis­hes this team that we’re playing against is they’re aggressive, almost reckless to a point — that’s how they play. On the other end, I thought we weren’t heads-up. We always gotta be on our toes for that kind of baseball.”

Asked if Berti’s steal home was embarrassi­ng, Rojas said, “Yeah.”

“That shouldn’t happen,” he said. “That should not happen. … We shouldn’t be playing the game like that, especially having a close game against a division rival like the Marlins.”

Rojas said he spoke to third baseman J.D. Davis about being more heads-up in that scenario.

“With J.D. in particular, going second to third and then stealing home on us, playing too deep, not creeping into the bag just to prevent some stuff,” Rojas said. “We know he’s a little bit shaded over when a lefty’s hitting, but just not getting momentum to the bag there and not anticipati­ng they might do it, knowing that’s the way they play.”

Berti became the 11th player with three stolen bases in one inning since 1984.

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