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AL DIVISION SERIES: YANKEES VS INDIANS

October 6, 2017

Francisco Lindor

Cleveland, Ohio - postgame 2, Canada

Indians - 9, Yankees - 8 (13)

Q. Frankie, obviously, you've had a lot of big moments in your career. When you hit that home run, what was the experience like? What were the emotions like? And has it sunk in yet?
FRANCISCO LINDOR: Not really. It hasn't sunk in yet. As soon as I hit it, I knew it had a chance of going out. Then after a couple of steps, I was like, no, don't go foul, please. Just stay fair. I started blowing on it a little bit. As soon as it went out, it was just a lot of emotions because, at the end of the day, all I want to do is just give my team a chance to win.

And Bruce has been doing that. And the at bat that Chisenhall had right before me, that was huge. A lot of people are going to be talking about the home run, but they forgot about Chisenhall's at bat. That was a game-changing moment right there.

Q. Did you see it hit the foul pole? Did you know it was going to be that close?
FRANCISCO LINDOR: I didn't think it was going to go out as much, like towards the foul pole. I thought it was going to stay fair. When I see like it was getting closer to the foul pole, I thought it was going to go past it in the inside part of the field. But it hit the foul pole. So it's a lot easier for all of us. We don't have to go back to the replay and check it and stay at second and then go back to the play. It's just pretty cool, pretty special moment. We got a long way to go still.

Q. Frankie, Kluber struggles today, then Edwin goes down. I think a lot of teams would have allowed that to be an excuse to lose. Why didn't you guys?
FRANCISCO LINDOR: It's not an excuse for us. We have 25 men in the roster, and we -- every one of the guys is capable of helping us win. And Encarnacion went down, but Brantley stepped in. I'll take that. That's not bad. That's pretty good, you know. Encarnacion is a huge part of our offense, our team. He's one of the reasons why we're here, but the way Tito has done the roster, as well as the front office, it's just we're 25 men deep. It's just not 10 guys, and that's it.

Kluber finally looking like he's human. You know, he just -- even though he didn't pitch as well as he does, he still gave us a chance to win. When he left, it was 6-3. That's not bad. I'll take that. You know, he gave us a chance to win still, and he kept us in the game. He battled. He grinded out every single hitter he faced. And at the end of the day, he was one of the first ones to come out of the dugout and congratulate everybody. That shows how good of a teammate he is.

Q. Frankie, continuing that thought, Tito said in his post-game presser that he relied on you to make sure that you got everyone all fired up. How honored are you, as a young kid, barely two years in Major League Baseball, that the manager would come up to you and say, Hey, I'm going to rely on you to get these kids to remain fired up and not feel down. Second question, how is your family in Puerto Rico?
FRANCISCO LINDOR: Thank you for asking about my family. They're doing great. Little bit of damage, nothing too crazy. Thank the Lord everybody's healthy, and the material things, they'll be replaced.

Going to Tito, it's an honor, it's a privilege, it's a blessing. First, he has allowed me to be Francisco Lindor since day one. I'm usually the little kid that runs around all excited that he's just in the big leagues playing the game of baseball. That's probably why he said that.

I just -- you know, I'm just happy -- we're all happy to be here, but I show it a little bit more than some of the guys. And just continue to tell guys to just enjoy it. We're blessed to be here. Enjoy this opportunity that we have in front of our feet. Don't take it for granted and just give yourself a chance to win. Whatever happens, we'll see.

Q. Francisco, as the game goes later, every base runner is critical. Just how important was that pickoff play by Yan, and how confident were you that you did get that tag down in time?
FRANCISCO LINDOR: It was huge. It was another -- there were so many key moments today, but that was one of the big ones, you know, is the way Yan Gomes front his knees to second base. I felt pretty comfortable.

For some reason, I felt like it was quicker than when I normally tag the runners. And as soon as I tagged him, I just felt like it was -- it was pretty close. It was just a tough angle for Brian at second base. He couldn't really see it. He just called what he thought he saw. I tagged him in the back, the shoulder/back area, so I can see why he called safe. But I'm glad we've got replay.

Q. Frankie, after what Tito said to you, did you talk to guys individually? Did you just continue to bounce around?
FRANCISCO LINDOR: Yeah, just bounce around, just being me. I'm just going up and down, just talking to everybody. Not even talking to the guys, just talking to myself loudly and let them know -- like let them hear me, you know. I'm just enjoying the game. I'm blessed to be here and just a little happy kid that's running around and just excited I'm here. I'm not going to take this for granted.

Q. Did you enjoy the Gatorade bath you gave Yan, too?
FRANCISCO LINDOR: Of course. It's always pretty fun when you throw a cold Gatorade or cold water on someone. Then Bruce got me, and it didn't feel too good.

Q. Francisco, you and Yan, you said that Yan said he practices that play, you guys practice that play where you throw it back. How much of that, though, is kind of just having a feel for each other and kind of like knowing in the back of your mind that that's going to happen whenever there's a situation like that one?
FRANCISCO LINDOR: Yan Gomes is one of the best throwing catchers in the league right now. He's extremely quick. He also has the best arm, but he's got a quick turn and quick feet. You let him know before the play happens, hey, there's going to be a chance of getting the guy on second, and there's a lot of times that he has even told me, hey, make sure you stay awake. I might throw to second base, or I might just give you a look. And that shows he's on top of the game and he's aware of his surroundings.

He's a catcher. He's the one that leads us. And him and Perez are the ones that are going to lead us. It's huge.

Q. Is that the craziest game you have ever been in?
FRANCISCO LINDOR: Rajai's home run was pretty amazing. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, the way we were down and came back, that was pretty fun. But Rajai's home run, I almost cried. Game 7 of the World Series, that's a little different.

But this one for sure. The way everyone battled and everyone got together, that was pretty special to watch, and one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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