After long trip, Tribe immediately throws house party

CLEVELAND — Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor was so caught up in celebrating, he nearly forgot what to do next.

Lindor delivered his first career walk-off in the Tribe’s 7-6 win over the Nationals on Tuesday night. With the bases loaded and one out, Lindor flared a 0-1 fastball off Washington lefty Oliver Perez into right.

As soon as Lindor saw the ball sneak into the right-field grass, he hoisted his hands up and turned to home to watch catcher Chris Gimenez score from third. About halfway down, Lindor busted down the first-base line to touch the bag and join the party in the infield.

“I was just trying to put the ball in play,” Lindor said. “Pick a zone where I wanted to hit it, what pitch I wanted to hit. I got it. I got the barrel to it and it went through. A lot of emotions running to first base.”

But it took an unorthodox ninth inning to get the the infield celebration at Progressive Field. The Indians began the final half-inning trailing by two runs and facing a veteran closer in Jonathan Papelbon.

“I know this is going to be a shocking announcement: That’s not how we drew it up,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “There were so many things that happened in that game that were kind of peculiar that, again, hitting …

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