TORONTO — Before the Cleveland Indians could even consider giving the ball to Andrew Miller, their bullpen faced a daunting task in the very first inning.

After Trevor Bauer’s bloody exit , these remarkable relievers had to stitch together almost an entire game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Four outs apiece for Dan Otero and Jeff Manship. Three for Zach McAllister. Five each for winner Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen.

After all that, Cleveland finally turned to Miller, who was overpowering again in closing out a 4-2 victory that moved the Indians within one win of their first pennant since 1997.

“If anybody has a hiccup, we probably lose,” manager Terry Francona said Monday night after his team took a 3-0 lead in the AL Championship Series. “They all made pitches against some really good hitters.”

Jason Kipnis and Mike Napoli homered for the Indians, unbeaten in six playoff games this year. They can complete their second consecutive series sweep today.

In the bullpen’s most impressive feat yet this October, six relievers combined for 25 outs and 128 pitches while limiting Toronto to two runs and seven hits. Miller got four outs for the save.

“The bullpen was unbelievable,” Bauer said. “Co-MVP to everybody.”

The hard-hitting Blue Jays have mustered only three runs in the series and have never led.

“We felt like we had an opportunity with some of their lower-leverage guys coming out of the bullpen, but they’ve got good arms,” Toronto outfielder Kevin Pillar said. “It makes it tough when you’re facing a different guy every inning, every at-bat.”

Kipnis led off the sixth with a home run to right-center field for a 3-2 edge, and Jose Ramirez added an RBI single. Suddenly, the Indians were just a few outs from being able to turn the game over to Allen and Miller.

They appeared in that order, yet another instance in which Francona maneuvered his bullpen unencumbered by rigid roles.

“It was all hands on deck,” Miller said.

Allen, who usually closes, entered in the seventh with a runner on and nobody out. A two-out walk to Jose Bautista put the potential tying run on, but Josh Donaldson’s liner to left field stayed up long enough for Coco Crisp to make a sliding catch .

Miller fanned three of five batters, giving him 20 strikeouts in nine playoff innings this year. The lanky left-hander has allowed five hits over 17 1/3 scoreless innings in his postseason career.