LOS ANGELES — On a Sunday night when the Mets’ bats and arms failed them, Jesse Winker’s legs and indecisiveness did, too.
Their best chance at scoring halted strangely, with Winker hung up between second and third base, uncertain of where to go, before he did not fully charge to his base of choice to lowlight a 9-0, NLCS Game 1 smacking at Dodger Stadium.
Dodgers third base Max Muncy (13) makes the tag for an out against Mets outfielder Jesse Winker (3) in the fourth inning during game one of the NLCS. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Dodgers third base Max Muncy (13) makes the tag for an out against New York Mets outfielder Jesse Winker (3) in the fourth inning during game one of the NLCS USA TODAY Sports via Reuters ConThe Mets already were down six runs in the fifth inning, with every base runner critical, when Winker ran — sort of — his way into an out on the basepaths.
To start the inning, the designated hitter drove a sharp single into right for the Mets’ first hit of the game off Jack Flaherty before Jose Iglesias stuck out his bat and dropped a hit into shallow left center.
Off the bat, Winker believed he could make it to third. He took an aggressive turn around second, making it about halfway to third, as center fielder Kiké Hernandez threw surprisingly behind him into second base.
If the throw were a gift, Winker rejected it.
“I stopped,” Winker said of freezing between the bases. “I’m going to be honest: I just made a really bad play. Heads up by [Hernandez] to throw it to second, and I stopped. It’s on me.”
After a moment, he began running again but at half-speed. Second baseman Gavin Lux caught the throw from Hernandez and relayed to third, where Winker was easily gunned down and tried to dance his way out of a tag rather than slide.
“Just got caught in no-man’s-land and just didn’t want to get thrown out,” said Winker, who went 1-for-3 and has reached base seven times in 16 October plate appearances with a home run and a triple. “And it was just a really bad, bad play by me.
“But I’ll learn from it and move forward.”
Jesse Winker (3) is called out in the fourth inning during game one of the NLCS. Charles Wenzelberg/New York PostIf Winker had simply run hard to third, he would have been safe. If he played it safe and remained at second, there would be no complaints from a Mets dugout that was hungry for any kind of threat.
Instead, the Mets’ first two hits of the game resulted in one out, just one base runner and no rally: Tyrone Taylor and Francisco Alvarez followed with fly outs.
Dodgers third base Max Muncy (13) makes the tag for an out against Mets outfielder Jesse Winker (3) in the fourth inning during game one of the NLCS. Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn ImagesAs it turned out, those back-to-back hits were the Mets’ only ones off Flaherty and two of three they tallied in the shutout.
“The baserunning play kind of takes the wind out of a potential rally,” Winker said. “That’s what hurts the most.”
