Jesse Winker wasn’t exactly a household name when the Reds arrived at Citi Field on Monday, but by the end of the four-game series, Mets fans certainly knew who he was.
The left fielder hit the go-ahead homer off Edwin Diaz in the ninth inning of Cincinnati’s win Monday and celebrated the Reds’ victory over the Mets on Wednesday by waving to the fans in the outfield after he made a sliding catch of Brandon Nimmo’s fly ball down the left-field line to end it.
That led the crowd to boo Winker before his at-bats Thursday, when he hit leadoff, before being ejected during his at-bat to start the top of the ninth after home-plate umpire Marty Foster made one of several questionable strike calls.
Robinson Cano was more critical of Foster’s strike zone following the game than anyone with the Reds, saying Foster called “six or seven” balls that were off-the-plate strikes. Winker, though, avoided the topic.
“I don’t want to get into that,’’ said Winker, who was replaced by Kyle Farmer in the Mets’ 1-0 win. “You never want to get ejected in the ninth inning.”
Cincinnati manager David Bell flew out of the dugout to try to protect Winker, and both ended up being tossed.
“Of course you don’t want that to happen,” Bell said of Winker’s ejection. “But it’s not about one call. … The story of the game isn’t the umpire.”
The fireworks, though, probably won’t be what Winker will be most remembered for in Queens.
Rather, it will be the unique way of getting back at fans who heckled him throughout the series.
“They talk loud — and a lot,” Winker said of Mets fans prior to the game. “I like to talk back.”
Winker ended up going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts Thursday and insisted the back-and-forth was good-natured.
“It’s one of those things that’s just fun,” said Winker, who also admitted to having faked giving a ball to Dodgers fans last year. “If anyone’s taking it too seriously, I think that’s their problem.”