First blood, then epic W for Tribe! Sweep today?

TORONTO — As unbelievable as it may seem, what took place on Monday night at Rogers Centre was the embodiment of the Indians’ season. A bloody finger stemming from a freak injury forced Trevor Bauer out of the game in the first inning. The bullpen turned in an October performance for the ages. Slumping hitters awoke and delivered critical hits.

It all added up to an improbable 4-2 victory over the Blue Jays that gave the Indians a 3-0 edge in the American League Championship Series, one win away from reaching the World Series for the first time since 1997. Anchored by another overpowering showing by Andrew Miller, six relievers appeared for the Indians, helping the team become the first in postseason history to win without having at least one pitcher record more than five outs.

• ALCS Game 4: Today at 4 p.m. ET on TBS/Sportsnet/RDS

Game Date Time Matchup TV Gm 1 Oct. 14   CLE 2, TOR 0 Gm 2 Oct. 15   CLE 2, TOR 1 Gm 3 Oct. 17   CLE 4, TOR 2 Gm 4 Oct. 18 4 p.m. CLE @ TOR TBS/SNET/RDS *Gm 5 Oct. 19 4 p.m. CLE@ TOR TBS/SNET/RDS *Gm 6 Oct. 21 8 p.m. TOR @ CLE TBS/SNET/RDS *Gm 7 Oct. 22 TBD TOR @ CLE TBS/SNET/RDS * If necessary | All times listed ET  • ALCS coverageShop for postseason gear: Blue Jays | Indians

Leaning against a wall inside the visitors’ clubhouse, his arms crossed and his face wearing an expression of exhaustion, Indians team president Chris Antonetti summed it up best.

“I don’t think anyone could’ve written this script,” Antonetti said.

• Castrovince: Cleveland has mighty chemistry

After Bauer took the hill four days after a drone accident left him with 10 stitches in his right pinkie, Cleveland’s worst-case scenario became a reality in the first inning, when the laceration opened and he began bleeding, a lot. Toronto manager John Gibbons pointed it out, and despite the efforts of Indians athletic trainer James Quinlan, Bauer was forced to exit the game after only two outs.

Following Bauer’s exit, the bullpen pieced together 8 1/3 innings of excellence. Miller closed it out, piling up three strikeouts in 1 1/3 frames to earn the save and build on his incredible October. The lefty now has an ALCS-record 13 strikeouts out of the bullpen for the Indians, who became the fifth team in history to open the postseason with a winning streak of at least six games. (The 2014 Royals started 8-0, and the 2007 Rockies started 7-0. Both lost the World Series.)

• Cleveland expects full ‘pen for Game 4

Cleveland’s bullpen performance gave its offense time to chip away. Mike Napoli and Jason Kipnis led the charge, breaking free of slumps with well-timed home runs off Toronto starter Marcus Stroman, who went 5 1/3 innings in a losing effort.

“What words do you even put on that? Unbelievable, right?” Bauer said of the bullpen’s showing. “They came in and did what they’ve done all year. They shut the game down easily.”

The Indians are now on the verge of securing a World Series berth, and the odds are certainly in their favor. In Major League Baseball history, Terry Francona’s 2004 Red Sox (ALCS vs. the Yankees) remain the only team to rally from a 3-0 deficit and win a best-of-seven postseason series. Overall, teams that have taken 3-0 leads in a best-of-seven format are 34-1.

• Toronto knows ALCS score, needs to win 4

Cleveland has reached this point without injured starters Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco, and while dealing with recent health setbacks for ace Corey Kluber and Bauer.

“This just shows the resiliency of the team,” Miller said. “Trevor’s injury was obviously unfortunate. We want them on the mound. He’s really, really good at what he does. But it’s almost like, ‘Hey, it’s another thing. It’s another thing that’s trying to keep us down, and we’ll just find a way around it, go through it.'”

The main reason Cleveland finds itself in this position has been its dominance on the mound, and that was the case again Monday. One after the other, Dan Otero, Jeff Manship, Zach McAllister, Bryan Shaw, Cody Allen and Miller all found ways to get the job done.

“That wasn’t the way we drew it up,” said Francona, the Tribe’s skipper. “But about our bullpen, that’s one of the most amazing jobs I’ve ever seen. I mean, starting with Otero to Manship to McAllister to Shaw, if anybody has a hiccup, we probably lose.”

Perhaps one of the reasons the Indians handled the situation so well was that the relievers have been down this road before. During the regular season, Cleveland’s bullpen was forced to log eight-plus innings four times, posting a 1.09 ERA with a .133 opponents’ batting average in those games. On Monday night, the six Tribe relievers scattered seven hits and one walk.

“There was no panic at all,” McAllister said. “Once that happened, everyone kind of settled down and knew our name might be called within an inning or within two innings. Everyone …

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