º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍø

Fastballs

Bailed ‘em out: Just before Lukes came through with the winner, it looked as though the Jays were about to waste a golden opportunity. Springer opened the eighth with a leadoff walk and proceeded to steal second base. Alejandro Kirk followed with an opposite-field single to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Addison Barger then popped up to first base, and Ernie Clement followed with a pop out of his own. Guardians right-hander Jakob Junis was one out away from escaping the jam when Lukes delivered the liner to centre. Jays closer Jeff Hoffman stranded two baserunners in the top of the ninth to record his seventh save of the year.

Springer dinger: The Jays have been suffering from a lack of power all season, but it has been a different story the last few days. On Wednesday, Anthony Santander, Varsho and Kirk homered. The following day, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth. On Friday, it was Springer’s turn to get in on the action. His solo shot in the fifth inning temporarily put the Jays in front, 3-2. On May 2 last year, Springer was batting .212 with seven extra-base hits and a .617 on-base plus slugging percentage. This year, he’s hitting .314 with 11 extra-base hits and a .946 OPS. The Jays scored their other two runs in the third on a single by Kirk.

Down goes Ramírez: The budget-conscious Guardians don’t have much star power, and one of the only big names they have went down in a crumpled heap in the series opener. José Ramírez, a perennial MVP candidate, hit a slow dribbler out in front of the plate in the top of the third. Jays starter Chris Bassitt fielded the ball and made a throw to first, which ricocheted off Ramírez’s back as he landed awkwardly on the bag and fell to the ground. Ramirez remained on the dirt for several minutes and eventually left the game with a sprained ankle. He will be questionable for the rest of this series, a blow to a Guardians lineup that was averaging just 3.81 runs per game.