Jose Ramirez delivers walk-off win over the Blue Jays with single in the 10th inning

CLEVELAND — Jose Ramirez at the plate with the bases loaded, the game tied and nobody out in the bottom of the 10th inning. Game, set, match, Guardians. Ramirez's line-drive single to left field on a 1-0 pitch from Mason Fluharty sent Cleveland to a 5-4 victory over the Blue Jays at Progressive Field on Wednesday night, providing the Guardians' with their fourth walk-off win of the season. "Josey up at the plate at any time is exciting, but with bases loaded, nobody out in a walk-off situation, there's no one on the planet I'd rather have hitting," manager Stephen Vogt said. "There was no doubt in my mind that he was going to get the job done." Ramirez, who delivered the seventh walk-off hit of his career, was pretty confident, too. "It was a little bit easier, because if I can elevate the ball, we can win the game. So, that's what I like about that situation," he said through an interpreter. The Guardians needed a few things to happen before Ramirez was able to play hero. First off, they required a scoreless top of the 10th from right-hander Nic Enright, who obliged by holding Toronto without a hit. Cleveland's 10th began with pinch runner Angel Martinez on second and an intentional walk to Steven Kwan. Pinch hitter David Fry followed with a perfect sacrifice bunt that turned into a single when the Blue Jays failed to make a play. It was reminiscent of the squeeze bunt Fry laid down in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the Division Series last year in Detroit. "David's a baseball player," Vogt said. "We've talked about it now for a couple years. And whether it was going to be Kwan moving him over, David moving him over, I had all the confidence in the world. "We saw it in the playoffs. He's capable of getting a bunt down, and what a beauty. I think it caught (Blue Jays catcher Tyler Heineman) off guard a little bit and just a perfect bunt that they had no play on." Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams started strong, retiring the first eight batters he faced and allowing only a hit through three innings, but he surrendered a solo homer to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the fourth before unraveling unexpectedly in the sixth. With one out and his team in front 3-1, Williams allowed a single, followed by two straight walks to load the bases. George Springer's two-run double tied it and former Cleveland player Ernie Clement scored the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly. "The first five innings were about as good as we've seen (from Williams)," Vogt said. "He lost the command just a little bit in the sixth and they were able to string some things together. But all in all, Gavin turned in a great performance and gave us a chance to win." Williams called the first five innings the best he's thrown in the big leagues. "They were swinging at everything and I was getting ahead quick," he said. The Guardians scored three times in five innings off Blue Jays right-hander and three-time Cy Young award winner Max Scherzer, who was making his first start since leaving the 60-day injured list with right thumb inflammation. Kwan walked to start the first, stealing second and scoring on Ramirez's base hit to left. Gabriel Arias' two-out, two-run double to the gap in right-center broke a 1-all tie in the fourth. "It felt really good. I felt like it was really important at that time in the game," Arias said through an interpreter. "I feel like the swing's coming back and it's going to keep coming at some point." It would have been a three-run fourth had Lane Thomas not been called out at second on a stolen base attempt that was challenged by Cleveland. Replays appeared to show Thomas beating the tag, but the call stood. Thomas homered for the second straight night to tie it at 4 in the bottom of the sixth. He has battled injuries and performance issues since the home opener, April 8, but is 5-for-12 with four RBIs over his last three games, while hitting .400 (8-for-20) with all three of his homers and seven RBIs at Progressive Field. "Gabby's been getting big hits for us all year, but to see Lane start to look like himself … we talked about it on the road trip that Lane was starting to look really good — a couple hits in both games of the homestand, a couple homers," Vogt said. "It's really nice to see Lane swinging the bat." Right-hander Jakob Junis got out of a sticky situation with the game tied at 4 in the eighth after hitting Guerrero Jr. with a pitch then allowing a base hit to Alejandro Kirk. With the Jays primed to take the lead again, Springer bounced out in front of the plate before Junis struck out the next two to end the threat and bring the crowd to a roar. After the game, Vogt said top-shelf setup man Cade Smith was dealing with back spasms and was unavailable. Chris Assenheimerit at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him on X @CAwesomeheimer.