CHICAGO -- The injury bug continued to drain Cleveland of starting pitching depth when Aaron Civale was lost to a right middle finger injury in the fifth inning Monday.

Indians manager Terry Francona didn’t have any more information on the severity of Civale’s ailment on Tuesday, saying the right-hander would meet with Dr. Thomas Graham, a hand specialist in Dayton, Ohio, on Wednesday morning for further evaluation. Francona’s expectation is that Civale will be sidelined for a period of time, though the off-day Wednesday at least provides an extra day to determine the next steps.

“My guess is we will need to make a roster move,” Francona said. “Because of tomorrow's day off, we can let him get looked at first, but I think we're prepared that he's going to miss some time.”

The injury could hardly have come at a worse time for both Civale and for the Indians.

Civale is having his best season as a big leaguer. With two outs and a 3-0 lead thanks to homers from Bobby Bradley and Josh Naylor on Monday, he was just an out away from being in line to earn his Major League-best 11th win of the season.

But Civale's removal after 4 2/3 innings meant Cleveland holding on for a 4-0 victory would instead give the win to reliever Bryan Shaw, and there’s still no clear date for his next chance to earn No. 11.

“I'm not really sure what the details are about his injury, but I pray for him and I hope he's OK,” Naylor said postgame Monday. “It was sad to see. I really didn't know how to react. I was like, 'Damn, man.'”

On the Indians’ side, an injury list stint for Civale would leave the club without its top three rotation pieces. Zach Plesac went on the 10-day IL on May 26. Shane Bieber joined him on June 14. Neither pitcher is set to return before July. So now, the task becomes figuring out how to replace production from another injured starter.

Francona said he at least knows who will be on the mound for the upcoming four-game set in Minnesota: J.C. Mejia will open the series Thursday, Cal Quantrill goes Friday, Sam Hentges goes Saturday and Tuesday’s starter Eli Morgan will be back on the bump Sunday.

As far as how the rotation looks from there, well, Francona hasn’t made those plans yet.

“Obviously, on Monday, we've got to figure something out,” he said.

Foreign substance checks go smoothly

The first day of increased enforcement of rules against foreign substances went off without a hitch on Monday.

Third-base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt met with Francona and Cubs manager David Ross prior to the game to explain how the umpires would be conducting their checks, and Francona said it helped put his mind at ease.

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Civale was checked after each of the first two innings without issue, as were the relievers after their respective innings. Nick Wittgren, who pitched a scoreless seventh out of the ‘pen, joked that he was even going to take off his jersey for the check, but he said they just had a laugh at the awkwardness of the situation.

After how smoothly Day 1 went, Francona said everyone involved hopes it stays that way moving forward.

“They're not looking to throw people out of a game,” Francona said. “They made that abundantly clear. They just have a job to do and we have a job to do, and hopefully, if everybody does it the way they're supposed to, you won't see any fireworks.”

He said it

“I'm actually pleased with how they're doing. They're fighting, man. They know. They're fighting. I don't want to scare them. I think that if we ever feel the need to talk to them, we certainly do, but they've been doing a good job. As long as they believe, I'm certainly gonna believe, and the other way around. We've got to do this together.” -- Francona, on how his pitchers have stepped up in place of injured starters