Jesse Winker rewards Carlos Mendozas faith with big hit in Mets win
Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.Carlos Mendoza thought about it.
He debated pinch hitting Tyrone Taylor for Jesse Winker in the eighth inning and letting a left-on-left matchup turn into a right-on-right one when the Blue Jays inevitably countered.But Mendoza had observed that left-handed hitters Juan Soto and Brandon Nimmo both produced strong at-bats against Brendon Little earlier in the frame.He’d watched Winker rip a triple and a double earlier in the game, too.So he stuck with Winker — who delivered for the Mets in key spots during their postseason run last year — and Winker responded with a triple that scored two runs to tie the game and give the Mets a chance to escape with a 3-2 walk-off win one frame later.“Not an easy decision,” Mendoza said, before later adding, “I’m glad he came through.”Winker, who inked a one-year deal to return for 2025, had gotten off to a slow start, entering Saturday with just a .154 average and zero extra-base hits through his first five games.But he ripped a double down the right field line in the second, and then whirled around the bases for a triple in the fourth after the ball somehow bounced past George Springer and to the wall.After both hits, the Mets failed to drive him in.
In the eighth, though, with Francisco Lindor on third base after a walk and Soto on first base after a single, Winker lined a pitch that Springer couldn’t collect near the wall.His first priority? “Get to third,” he said, but then, he said, happiness settled in as the lasting emotion.“Right before I went to the on-deck circle, [Mendoza] said, ‘This is your at-bat,’ ” Winker said.
“It pumps you up.It’s awesome playing for him.
It’s a blessing.Extremely grateful.”Winker isn’t exactly known for his speed, with his pair of triples in the playoffs last year the lone exceptions during his Mets tenure.
When he s...