Justin Verlander. Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Mets' Justin Verlander cuts off ESPN interview with Francisco Lindor

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 5/22/23

New York Mets co-ace Justin Verlander was not a fan of ESPN's post-game interview with star shortstop Francisco Lindor on Sunday night.

As shared by Brandon Contes of Awful Announcing and Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post, Lindor was speaking with SportsCenter following Sunday's 2-1 victory over the Cleveland Guardians when viewers heard somebody yell "f--- ESPN, leave him alone, let him go" from off to Lindor's side.

Verlander, who pitched eight innings and improved to 2-2 on the season on Sunday evening, then jumped in front of the camera to interrupt an interview he clearly believed overstayed its welcome.

"We gotta do player of the game, let’s go! My god, stop asking so many questions, let’s go," a seemingly irritated Verlander said. Lindor attempted to laugh the situation off as ESPN's Nicole Briscoe invited Verlander to stick around for the segment.

"You see, he’s rushing everybody," Lindor responded to his teammate. "That’s something I learned from him, so, thank you very much."

Briscoe then excused Lindor, presumably to Verlander's delight.

(Video contains not-safe-for-work language)

Justin Verlander called for the hook on Francisco Lindor's ESPN postgame interview. pic.twitter.com/QRJNRKUSEg
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 22, 2023

It's not entirely clear why Verlander and/or anybody else associated with the Mets would've felt annoyed about what appeared to fans to be a standard post-victory interview with arguably the key figure of the series. Lindor famously played for Cleveland from 2015 through the 2020 season and was facing his former club for the first time as a member of the Mets. The four-time All-Star selection delivered a walk-off single on Friday night and a game-tying home run in the "Sunday Night Baseball" win.

Meanwhile, the Mets swept the Guardians and have won five straight to improve to 25-23. They trail the first-place Atlanta Braves by five games in the National League East standings.

"Sometimes when you’re not going well, you just try to hover around .500," Verlander told reporters after the Sunday night victory. "As long as you can grind and find a way to stay afloat, you go on a good run and all of a sudden you look up and it’s like: 'Wow, our record’s getting better.'"

Perhaps consistently possessing a winning record would put Verlander in a better mood for when networks such as ESPN want to speak with Mets players after wins.

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