MIAMI -- Giancarlo Stanton belted yet another home run on Thursday, but the three-time All-Star right fielder was upset at himself for the damage that nearly occurred at home plate in the sixth inning of the Marlins' 6-3 loss to the Mets at Marlins Park.
In a hold-your-breath moment, Stanton had a side-swipe collision with catcher Rene Rivera while scoring on Martin Prado's RBI single to left.
Admittedly, Stanton said he should have slid, but he never had good footing, so he scored standing up. In the process, his leg caught Rivera's arm, resulting in both players tangling. Stanton stumbled to the ground, while Rivera was shaken up as the ball kicked away.
"That was a bad play on my part," Stanton said. "It worked out. It wasn't a good play. You've always got to slide right there."
Stanton singled in the inning and went to second on Christian Yelich's single. Prado ripped the ball to left, and Yoenis Cespedes made a remarkably accurate throw, especially when you consider he was basically flat-footed.
Statcast™ tracked the throw home at 95 mph, and it was on the mark.
Stanton said he lost his footing rounding third and was caught between whether to slide or stand.
"I couldn't get my footing," Stanton said. "I almost fell over third, and then I was in-between on sliding and getting in there."
Rumbling full speed, Stanton's foot just caught the corner of the plate, as Rivera was hunched over in pain.
Stanton went back to the Mets' catcher to check on him.
"You slide and his arm almost doesn't get ripped off," Stanton said. "You don't want to see that either way. I could have gotten hurt, flipping over like that, too. I wanted to slide. I just couldn't get my timing or footing down. ... The way it happened, I'm upset about it."

Stanton provided a spark for a quiet offense in the fourth inning with a home run off Seth Lugo. The drive to left field was the slugger's 21st homer of the season, and Statcast™ projected it at 392 feet with an exit velocity of 97 mph. The shot closed Miami's gap to 5-1.
Miami dropped two of three to the Mets after taking the series opener on Tuesday. In all three games, New York jumped out to first-inning leads, including 2-0 on Thursday.
"You never want your first at-bat to be passive, manufacture some runs at-bats," Stanton said. "But it happens. We were chipping away, just didn't get enough."