The Cleveland Indians were forced to pull starting pitcher Trevor Bauer just four batters into his playoff start against the Toronto Blue Jays Monday night, when blood began streaming from his pitching hand.

Bauer had cut his right pinkie finger five days earlier on the spinning propellers of a drone he built. The Indians had scheduled Bauer to start Game 2 but pushed him back to Game 3 of their best-of-seven American League Championship Series, saying the extra two days should provide the finger more time to heal.

While fiddling with his drone late last week, one of the propellers cut the front of his pinkie between his second knuckle and the finger nail. It was urgent enough that he jumped in a cab to a Cleveland emergency room to get stitches. He had the wound bandaged at his light-hearted Sunday press conference in Toronto, and he brought the drone along to show the media. He said he didn't think the injury would affect his pitching.

"I've thrown with it a couple different days. It doesn't affect anything as far as my grips," said Bauer. "I don't even use my pinkie on any of the pitches I throw, it just kind of hangs out over there. I don't anticipate it being an issue at all."

Rules in Major League Baseball stipulate that a pitcher may not have any coverings over his hand, wrist or fingers while he's pitching, so Bauer was unable to wear a bandage on the wound. Before Monday's game, cameras captured photos of the damaged pinkie, which looked gruesome.

Two thirds into Monday's first inning, blood was dripping off his hand so aggressively that he couldn't hide it. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons came out to bring it to the umpire's attention, and Cleveland manager Terry Francona and staff then came to huddle with Bauer on the mound.

Fans were hollering. Two walks, one strikeout and just 21 pitches in over two thirds of an inning, a devastated Bauer was forced to exit the game.