TORONTO — Things could have gone much worse for the Guardians on Friday at Rogers Centre. They dropped the opener of a three-game series to the Blue Jays, 5-3, but appear to have avoided a potentially devastating injury to All-Star third baseman José Ramírez. Nathan Lukes drilled a two-out, two-run single in the eighth inning off Jakob Junis to snap a 3-3 tie and give the Blue Jays the win. Carlos Santana and Bo Naylor hit solo home runs for Cleveland, and Logan Allen pitched into the sixth inning, allowing two earned runs on six hits while striking out four. But Ramírez, the heart and soul of the ballclub, was lost to a lower leg injury on a freak play in the third. Ramírez was running out an infield single and landed awkwardly on the first base bag while trying to avoid the throw of Blue Jays starting pitcher Chris Bassitt. After crashing to the dirt, Ramírez stayed on his back for several minutes while manager Stephen Vogt and Guardians trainer Jeff Desjardins tended to him. Ramírez was able to walk off the field under his own power and was replaced in the lineup by Daniel Schneemann. The Guardians later announced that he had sustained a mild right ankle sprain and his status is day-to-day. Santana opened the second inning with a solo home run to right field against Bassitt, his third homer of the season. Santana entered the game batting .290 in his career in Toronto with 13 doubles, 19 RBI and a .952 OPS in 37 games. His RBI single off Bassitt in the sixth scored Schneemann, who had opened the inning with a leadoff double. Schneemann has hits in five of his last six games for Cleveland. Steven Kwan collected three hits including a double and prevented a pair of potential runs with his defense. Kwan threw out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. trying to advance to second on a ball that hit the left field wall in the first. In the eighth, the threat of Kwan’s arm kept George Springer at third on a fly ball to left by Ernie Clement, if only for a moment before Lukes’ game-winning hit. Junis suffered his first loss. He has allowed five earned runs in his last four appearances, including seven hits in that span. Blue Jays lefty Brendon Little tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings with a strikeout for his first win. Toronto closer Jeff Hoffman walked Nolan Jones in the ninth and allowed a two-out double to Kwan before striking out Gabriel Arias for his seventh save. Allen was on the verge of escaping a jam with two runners on base in the third when he appeared to have Springer struck out on a sweeper over the middle of the plate. But Naylor was called for catcher’s interference, loading the bases for Alejandro Kirk. Following a mound visit to Allen by pitching coach Carl Willis, Kirk drilled a 1-0 cutter into left field to score Guerrero and Anthony Santander as Springer advanced to third on a throwing error by Kwan. But Allen fanned Addison Barger, keeping the damage to a minimum. Kirk finished with three hits, including a bloop single to right in the eighth that set up Barger’s go-ahead RBI base hit. Naylor got one of the runs back in the top of the fourth with his fifth home run, a 410-foot blast to center off Bassitt that tied the score at 2-2. It was Naylor’s third home run in his last four games and the second of his career in his native Canada. Naylor homered in his first ever game at Rogers Centre off Bassitt in a 5-2 Cleveland win on Aug. 25, 2023. Springer tied the score at 3-3 in the fifth with a two-out solo shot off Allen. It was Springer’s third home run and the 11th of his career in 49 games against Cleveland. Matt Festa, added to Cleveland’s roster earlier in the day to take the place of Vince Velasquez, pitched a scoreless 1 1/3 innings, allowing a hit and recording a strikeout in his Guardians debut. The series continues Saturday with a 3:07 p.m. scheduled first pitch from Rogers Centre. Right-hander Gavin Williams (2-2, 5.14) will start for Cleveland. Righty Kevin Gausman (2-3, 4.50) takes the mound for Toronto. The game will air on CLEGuardians.TV, WTAM 1100 AM, WMMS 100.7 FM and the Guardians Radio Network.