CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Indians like to think of themselves as 25 grinders with a shared sense of purpose, but it’s tough to cram Francisco Lindor into that restrictive a box. As a talented, charismatic 22-year-old shortstop, Lindor has the energy and skill to separate himself from the pack. Beyond the gift of ability, he earns bonus points for having the requisite slow heart rate to produce when it matters most.

This season marks Lindor’s first appearance in the playoffs, and he asserted himself a week ago with a solo home run off Boston’s Rick Porcello in the opening game of the American League Division Series. In hindsight, that special moment was just a warm-up for Friday night, when he took matters into his deceptively strong hands and enjoyed his first October star turn.

The Indians and Toronto Blue Jays were locked in a scoreless tie for five innings of Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, and it appeared things might remain that way for a good, long while. Corey Kluber was consistently pitching out of trouble, Marco Estrada was allowing a whole lot of nothing, and the ball wasn’t carrying at Progressive Field nearly as well as it did during the Cleveland-Boston series.

That’s when Lindor changed the game at an exit velocity of 103.3 miles per hour. He drove an Estrada changeup over the right-center-field fence for a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth, and the Indians beat Toronto 2-0 in the opener of the ALCS.

Not long after fans chanted “Frank-ie! Frank-ie!" during his final at-bat, Lindor showed that he has style as well as substance. He entered the basement interview room at Progressive Field wearing a black fedora and lugging a white leather backpack. When asked about postseason nerves, he agreed with the proposition that they’re not an issue for him.

“I’m just trying to play the game, have fun, enjoy it," Lindor said. “And nobody is [picking] us, so there’s no pressure. We’re just trying to do our thing -- play the game the right way. And we all have a different role."

Lindor’s homer and some dominant pitching allowed the day to end in more orderly fashion than it began for Cleveland manager Terry Francona. He was taking a shower in the morning when Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti called with news that Trevor Bauer, Cleveland’s scheduled Game 2 starter, had cut his right pinky finger while doing routine maintenance on his drone and would have to be scratched in favor of Josh Tomlin.

Francona, a master at rolling with disruptions, began his pregame news conference with some deadpan humor.

“It’s kind of self-explanatory," Francona told reporters. “I think everybody in here at some point or another has probably had a drone-related problem."

After the Indians dispatched Toronto in 2 hours, 44 minutes -- a relative land speed record in a marathon-filled October -- Francona was able to smile without it feeling forced. Kluber pitched like an ace for the second consecutive October game, giving the Tribe 6⅓ shutout innings on 100 pitches, and Andrew Miller and Cody Allen barely gave the Jays a sniff over the final 2⅔ innings. Miller recorded all five of his outs on strikeouts, and the Blue Jays were sufficiently frustrated by plate umpire Laz Diaz’s wandering strike zone that they began to lose their focus.

Lindor contributed a single and an artful double play along with his home run, and he played the game with the combination of energy and poise the Indians have come to expect. When second baseman Jason Kipnis made a stellar defensive play to steal a hit from Kevin Pillar in the fourth inning, Lindor paid tribute to his double-play partner with a couple of “We’re not worthy" bows from shortstop.

“He controls his emotions really well out there," Cleveland catcher Roberto Perez said. “He’s out there competing, and it doesn’t matter who’s throwing. But you can see he’s always smiling and trying to get something going. That’s huge. If he’s not one of our leaders now, he’s going to be one."

Before the game, Lindor’s most daunting challenge was settling on a pair of spikes that fit his mood. His shoe suppliers at Under Armour made him four custom pair for the postseason, and after considerable thought Lindor chose the red model with “BelieveLand" written on the side over a silhouette of the Cleveland skyline for ALCS Game 1.

Hm decisions... S/O to @underarmour for making pearl white and chrome cleats And @sotocustoms for the believeland cleats #OctoberBaseball pic.twitter.com/qzuyOyw0ZW

— Francisco Lindor (@Lindor12BC) October 6, 2016

“I believe in my team," Lindor said. “I believe in my city. They’re cool shoes, and I believe in what we have here. The glory is God’s. We’re just trying to do our thing."

Lindor does his thing with a combination of bat speed, hand-eye coordination and uncommon maturity. He hit .315 against fastballs, .300 off breaking balls and .287 versus changeups during the regular season, so he doesn’t really have a weakness. But Estrada’s changeup poses a particular challenge. Former Toronto teammate David Price, who knows a thing or two about changeups, gave it the vaunted “Bugs Bunny" designation a year ago.

During his pivotal at-bat against Estrada, with Kipnis on first base, Lindor relied on the advice of his veteran teammates. Michael Brantley always tells him to concentrate on hitting the ball up the middle, and Carlos Santana advises him to be conscious of the pitch up in the strike zone and try to stay inside the ball.

Lindor learned his lessons well. With the count 0-2, he hit a 78 mph changeup into the seats to send a charge through a Cleveland crowd that was waiting for something, anything, to happen. He joined Corey Seager of the 2016 Los Angeles Dodgers and Carlos Correa of the 2015 Houston Astros as the only shortstops to hit multiple home runs in a single postseason before turning 23.

And it was no cheapie. The ball traveled an estimated 413 feet.

“Frankie’s a strong kid," Francona said. “He’s kind of wiry. At some point, somebody was going to have to hit a changeup. But Estrada’s changeup is so good, you can look for it and still not hit it. It might be the best changeup in the game."

There were three innings left to play, but the moment resonated long after the final out. Lindor bounded around the bases in his custom-made shoes and celebrated like a little boy playing pretend postseason baseball in the backyard. A crowd of 37,727 cheered as he touched home plate, and it felt for all the world like a breakthrough moment in a career that will have many big moments to come.