MILWAUKEE — Jesse Winker, no longer a Mets villain, has become one to both the Brewers and Willy Adames.
The passionate player — who enjoyed a rivalry with Mets fans before the deadline trade that sent him to Queens — exchanged words with Adames, the Brewers shortstop and his former teammate, after a strange triple in which Winker appeared to say something between first and second base.
In the second inning Tuesday, the Mets designated hitter drilled a two-run triple into the right-field corner to tie the game, fire up his teammates and apparently exchange fire with Adames.
Replays showed Winker perhaps saying something — maybe to Adames, maybe to someone else, maybe to his own dugout — shortly before he reached second base, which Winker denied.
“If you all think I’m able to run and talk, you don’t know my athletic ability,” Winker said after the 8-4, series-opening victory at American Family Field. “Can’t do that.”
Winker dove into third base and screamed into his own dugout.
He then went back and forth with Adames.
A lipreading by Jomboy Media appeared to show many curses flying and Adames challenging Winker to a parking-lot showdown after the game.
It is possible Winker was upset that Milwaukee starter Frankie Montas drilled him on the butt with a first-pitch fastball on Friday.
Winker began the 2023 season with the Brewers and did not hit well for 61 games. He now is welcomed with boos, which intensified following the triple.
Winker declined to reveal the source of the feud.
“I don’t really want to speak on it,” Winker said. “I just want to focus on the game tomorrow.”
