CINCINNATI — On a 92-degree evening, Yankees spot starter Allan Winans looked like the coolest customer at Great American Ball Park on Monday.

Winans, a 29-year-old former Mets farmhand, blanked the Reds on just 24 pitches over the first three innings in his Yankees debut.

But the Reds put up three runs in the fourth against the soft-tossing righty, who ended up lasting just 4 1/3 innings. He was charged with four runs.

Winans was filling in for Ryan Yarbrough, who is on the injured list with an oblique strain. If Marcus Stroman’s rehab start with Double-A Somerset on Tuesday goes well, Winans could be back in the minors soon.

But at least he has those first three innings to build upon.

Staked to a 1-0 lead on Aaron Judge’s 28th home run in the first, Winans struck out the first big-league batter he had faced since he was with Atlanta in 2024 when TJ Friedl swung through an 82.2-mile per hour changeup.

The only baserunner against Winans in the first three innings came on Spencer Steer’s leadoff infield hit in the second. A double play two batters later and a 1-2-3 third had Winans facing the minimum nine.

In the fourth, however, Winans hit Matt McLain with a 2-and-1 pitch with one out. Elly De La Cruz followed with an RBI triple over the leaping try of Cody Bellinger in center and then scored on Steer’s sacrifice fly to left to give the Reds a 2-1 lead.

Gavin Lux made it 3-1 with a home run into the Yankees’ bullpen in right.

Winans was removed with runners on first and third and one out in the fifth. Ian Hamilton allowed the first inherited runner to score on a single by De La Cruz before getting Steer to ground into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. The Yankees trailed after six, 4-1.

Winans, whom the Yankees claimed off waivers from Atlanta on Jan. 23, allowed five hits, hit two batters and struck out one.

Winans had impressed in spring training and then went on an epic run with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre while waiting for an opportunity. He went 7-0 with a 0.90 ERA in 11 appearances (nine starts) at Scranton. He had allowed just 39 hits and one home run in 50 innings, striking out 59.

Winans was up with the Yankees for a day in mid-April, but did not get into a game.

On April 23, back with Scranton, Winans struck out the first six and 10 of the first 11 batters he faced in a game against Charlotte. The other batter was a walk.

“He's earned this opportunity, that's for sure,” manager Aaron Boone said before the game. “Because there are a lot of different things we considered and options out there, and it really came down to Allan earning this opportunity with excellence down there. Excited to see him to get that opportunity. Did a good job for us in spring training. He's got that pitchability thing and hopefully he can go out and take what he's been doing and apply it up here and get us off to a good start.”

Winans was originally drafted by the Mets in the 17th round in 2018 out of Campbell University in North Carolina. He was selected by Atlanta in the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 draft in 2021 and started eight games for Atlanta in 2023-24, going 1-4 with a 7.20 ERA.

His victory was a special one. On Aug. 12, 2023, in his second career start, Winans shut out the Mets over seven innings at Citi Field in a 21-3 win for Atlanta.

“Anytime you get called to the big leagues, it’s pretty special and it’s pretty cool,” Winans said on that day. “But getting drafted by those guys, they definitely made me dream of Citi Field, so getting to come here and do it against those guys makes it a little more special.”

Boone presented Reds catcher Jose Trevino with his 2024 American League championship ring before the game. The Yankees traded Trevino to Cincinnati in the offseason for reliever Fernando Cruz and catcher Alex Jackson.

“He was such a good player for us, such a good teammate for us,” Boone said. “Really impacted our team and our room. Feel like elevated our room and our pitching group. We obviously went through a lot with him the last few years.”