Indians' Trevor Bauer exits in first with bloody finger from drone injury
-- TORONTO --? Indians?right-hander Trevor Bauer faced only four batters Monday night before being pulled from Game 3 of the AL Championship Series after blood began dripping out of his injured finger.
Bauer had been pushed back two days to Game 3 because he cut his right pinkie on a drone last week.
He received stitches, but with two on and two out in the first inning of the 4-2 win over the? Blue Jays?on Monday, blood was already coming out of his finger and onto his hand.
Bauer was replaced by Dan Otero after 21 pitches.
The win gave the Indians a 3-0 lead in the series.
"When I went out to check on Trevor, when I saw the blood on the rubber, I figured that wasn't a real good sign," Indians manager Terry Francona told ESPN's Buster Olney in a postgame interview.
After Bauer issued a two-out walk to? Troy Tulowitzki, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons strode onto the field and lodged a complaint with home plate umpire Brian Gorman.
"I figured they saw something on the TV, which, you know, when I went out there and got to the mound I couldn't believe how much it was bleeding," Francona said. "I can't believe he hid it for the two pitches. I mean, it was on the dirt, it was on the rubber. And Brian Gorman looked at me and said, 'He can't pitch.' I was like, 'I know that.' "?
Gorman had approached the mound as Francona made his visit.
"That's too much," Gorman could be heard saying in a TV replay, referring to the blood flow from Bauer's finger. "You're going to have to replace him."
Rules forbid pitchers from using a foreign substance, including a bandage, on their hand. Sources told ESPN's Olney that?Bauer was indeed removed under the foreign-substance rule, but that MLB had discussed the situation ahead of time.
Bauer's early exit likely means Corey Kluber will pitch Game 4 on short rest for Cleveland. Francona had said that was his plan if Bauer's finger acted up and reiterated it during the TBS interview.
Kluber tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings in Game 1 on Friday night in Cleveland.
Francona already is juggling a rotation that is missing injured starters Carlos Carrasco (broken hand) and Danny Salazar (forearm strain). Right-hander Mike Clevinger had been slated to start Game 4, but given the uncertainty over Bauer, the Indians moved him to the bullpen as a long reliever and slotted? Ryan Merritt?into the rotation.
Information from ESPN's Scott Lauber and The Associated Press was used in this report.