Mariners celebrate Jesse Winker with standing ovation, pizza pin after brawl with Angels

28.06.2022, 19:05 sportingnews.com

Jesse Winker was one of the catalysts behind a bench-clearing brawl in the Mariners vs. Angels game on Sunday. The fight started after Winker was plunked by Angels pitcher Andrew Wantz in what had been a chippy series between the AL West rivals. Mike Trout took exception to a pitch thrown inside at him and later, Wantz threw behind Mariners star rookie Julio Rodriguez. Once Winker was hit, that was the final straw and the benches cleared. Benches clear!!! 👊@Angels | #GoHalos pic.twitter.com/EUnTTcjW1D— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) The Seattle faithful evidently appreciated Winker standing up for his teammate, even if it did land him a seven-game suspension, which he is currently appealing. MORE: Best parts of the Mariners vs. Angels brawl The Mariners returned home on Monday for the first time since the brawl, and fans showed their appreciation in several ways. Most notably, he received a standing ovation when he first stepped to the plate against the Orioles. Jesse Winker gets a standing ovation from the Seattle crowd after taking center stage in yesterday's brawl pic.twitter.com/DfT5h8XhQS— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) But the appreciation for Winker didn't stop there. The Mariners also announced that fans who bought a Winker jersey at Tuesday's game would be gifted a free Mariners pizza pin with the purchase. TONIGHT ONLY at T-Mobile Park! 🍕🍕Get a FREE @Mariners pizza pin with purchase of a Jesse Winker player t-shirt or jersey!*While supplies last. Available at select locations only. Cannot be combined with any other offer. pic.twitter.com/dVx3Z0Yvgj— Mariners Team Store (@MarinersStore) The pizza pin was a nod to a heartwarming story that occurred after Winker was ejected from the game against the Angels. A Mariners fan from Arkansas named Sofie Dill — @Sofieballgame on Twitter — ordered a pizza to be delivered to Winker following the brawl and had it delivered to Angels Stadium by a DoorDash Driver Simranjeet Singh. Winker eventually received the pizza and thanked Dill for delivering it in a Twitter DM. Meanwhile, she shared Singh's Venmo information on Twitter and numerous Mariners fans tipped him to create an all-around happy ending. MORE: Winker enjoys post-brawl pizza after fan has one delivered to him at Angel Stadium Winker didn't have a particularly memorable performance in Seattle's 9-2 loss to Baltimore. He went 0-3 with a walk in four at-bats. Still, it doesn't seem like he will forget the atmosphere created by the Mariners and their fans during his return home. "There’s almost a 3,000th hit vibe inside the ballpark right now," Mariners announcer Dave Sims said when Winker first stepped to the plate on the Root Sports Network broadcast.