Paul Sewald thought his grudge against Mets fans was over.
But they once again aroused his wrath.
The Diamondbacks relief pitcher, who spent the first four years of his career with the Mets, got into an ugly altercation with a fan after Saturday’s 10-5 win over New York at Citi Field.
And it brought back bad memories for Sewald.
“I thought we were over it. I didn’t come here to play this team,” Sewald told The Post after the game. “It’s been a while. I think we’ve grown a little bit since the first time we came back in 2022.”
“But I finished the game and got a POS. [piece of s–t] Just yelling and swearing at me in front of my kids just brings back memories of what I went through while I was here. So, unfortunately, it was a great reminder of my four years here.”
Sewald, who took the mound to record the final out of Saturday’s game, is returning to Citi Field for the first time in 2022 while with the Mariners.
After his time with the Mets, Sewald spent more than two years with the Mariners before being acquired by the Diamondbacks last year, where he played a key role in Arizona’s run to the World Series.
Sewald, who was 1-14 with a 5.50 ERA with the Mets when he returned in 2022, said “the fans weren’t my biggest fans” when he was with the team and that being booed by Mariners fans when he was introduced motivated him even more.
He also said the Mets “gave up on him” when they voided his contract after the 2020 season and that he enjoyed “revenge” against his former team.
He didn’t come into this series with those feelings, but he’ll leave New York with those feelings.
What can’t be printed [the fan] “It’s a shame that he would do something like that in front of his kids. He’s embarrassed, and he deserves it,” Sewald said.
“I also said some things that I probably wouldn’t want printed. It was one of those things, and it was frustrating not to show emotion in a game that didn’t mean anything and not think I made a big deal out of having him do that. I’m just disappointed.”
Sewald has had a career resurgence with the Mariners, posting a 3.57 ERA in the regular season with the Diamondbacks last year and playing well in the postseason but struggling in the World Series.
His ERA this year is 1.23.
“When I was here, we were in a bad place. [with the Mets]So I haven’t really seen anything good. [in the fans]”Unfortunately, I think that’s a misconception on my part, but I want nothing but success for this team,” Sewald said.
“I played in the World Series. [with the Diamondbacks]So they’ve been very supportive. They’re very excited about me and that I’m on the team. It’s been very positive.”
