SAN DIEGO – Before Friday’s game at Petco Park, several Reds outfielders performed drills where they practiced leaping the fence to rob home runs from going over the fence. Left fielder Jesse Winker was not among them as he was working in the infield.

Yet when Eric Hosmer led off the fifth inning with a drive to left field, it was Winker who made a spectacular leaping catch to take a homer away during Cincinnati’s 8-2 loss.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever done that, so I was very pumped. It was cool, man,” Winker said Saturday on the field before batting practice. “We were talking before the season started, it’s a great field to kind of rob home runs. But you never play a game think you’re going to rob a home run. But yeah, I was happy I just hung on.”

After making the catch in the seats, Winker did not immediately signal that he had the ball in his glove. Fans were awaiting the outcome, as was Hosmer as he slowly jogged towards second base.

In a smooth bit of trolling the crowd, Winker took a few steps on the warning track and then flipped the ball to himself.

“To be honest with you, I was just kind of shocked that I caught it,” he said. “Then everything else, I was just having fun.”

Winker, who ranks second among Major Leaguers in batting average this season behind teammate Nick Castellanos, has regularly strived to become a better defensive player.

“I think his baserunning, his defense have become really meaningful to him,” Reds manager David Bell said. “He talks way more about both than his offense. It’s not even close. I think there’s some good, healthy competitions going on our team over who can run the hardest or who could be the best baserunner. I think the same thing is going on with our defense. These guys are working really, really hard.

“There’s a lot of work going on that Wink has really stepped up all areas of his game. He gets excited about it and talks about it.”

Winker was booed by Padres fans while he batted and took the field. It was reminiscent of 2019, when he was booed after making a sliding catch at Citi Field against the Mets to end a game. In that game, Winker put his finger to his lips to quiet the fans who had been heckling him all game. Now he can say he’s been booed coast-to-coast.

“I think those are two different animals though,” Winker said. “I didn’t really do anything post-catch [Friday] besides to walk it off and throw it in. I understand about the New York one. I get it.”

Votto swipes third base
During the fourth inning on Friday with runners on first and second base and one out, the Padres put a right side shift on against lefty hitter Tucker Barnhart. On second base and seeing third base unattended, Joey Votto bolted for his first steal since Sept. 12, 2019, at Seattle and the 80th of his career.

After Barnhart struck out, Votto’s steal paid off when Kyle Farmer drove him in with an RBI single to left field.

“Just a great heads-up play,” Bell said about Votto on Saturday. “I think one of the great things about baserunning. When you’re looking for ways to win a game, if your mindset is, ‘What can I do to score right here?’ – that’s when opportunities like that come up. He took advantage of it. Joey is another guy that’s really stepped up his desire to not only be a great baserunner but also be an example for what that means to our team.”