TORONTO -- The Blue Jays made plenty of noise against the Yankees this week, but not enough of it came in the batter’s box.

With a 4-2 loss Thursday, Toronto took just one of the four games in a dramatic series that added a dozen new chapters to one of baseball’s biggest rivalries. These past four days have had two themes: Aaron Judge crushing baseballs and the Blue Jays failing to do so when it mattered.

“We didn’t really get a big hit this whole series with guys on base,” manager John Schneider said. “When the bases were loaded with nobody out, you probably want to get a little more than one. It ebbs and flows. Right now, give credit to them. That’s a good pitching staff. They made pitches. We didn’t get hits.”

That put José Berríos in a tough spot, even as he cobbled together a strong enough outing following Judge’s first-inning blast.

“When we play a good team like that, obviously we want to beat them, go out to compete and do our best,” Berríos said. “We didn’t come out with the win, but we gave 100%, pitch by pitch. They got me tonight, but that’s part of the game. I hope I get another chance at them.”

What a week. Here’s what we learned:

The mayor of Toronto
The boos only made Judge stronger.

The 2022 AL MVP Award winner launched four home runs in four games and missed another by about an inch, settling for a sixth-inning double Thursday after a replay review overturned what looked like his fifth. He’ll have to settle for 1,715 feet worth of home runs, a fine way to quiet the Rogers Centre faithful after the drama that unfolded -- much to the displeasure of Judge -- earlier in the series.

“There’s really one dude you look at in that lineup and you don’t want him to beat you,” Schneider said. “I don’t think we did a very good job of that. There are definitely ways to get him out. It’s not like the dude is going to hit 1.000, but when you make mistakes to a really good hitter, that’s what we saw.”

Schneider had his best synopsis of Judge’s series after Toronto’s lone win a day earlier on Wednesday, when discussing a decision to intentionally walk him late in that game. 

“I’ve seen enough of Aaron Judge over the last couple days and the last couple years,” he said.

The AL East nightmare
These two teams won’t meet again until Sept. 19. That feels wrong.

That’s the nature of the new schedule format, though, which is good for a long list of other reasons. You’d love to see these teams have another meeting in the middle of the summer, though, to keep the energy alive between two AL East powers.

The Rays (32-13) are off to a brilliant start this season atop the division, and even the Red Sox, who sit fifth, have a winning record at 24-20. It’s possible the AL East could take a run at five winning records in 2023 -- and the Orioles (28-16), who roll into town Friday, are the X-factor in all of this, outpacing the Blue Jays (25-19) with a roster on the rise.

Can the Blue Jays weather a storm? 
The Yankees have 13 players on the injured list. That includes Carlos Rodón, Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson, Luis Severino and Frankie Montas. The Yanks are not just losing games, they’re losing potential game-changers. 

The Blue Jays, on the other hand, have been one of the Majors’ most fortunate teams. They’ve used fewer players than any other club at just 29, well behind the A’s (42) and Mets (40) at the top. Only Adam Cimber, Zach Pop and Mitch White have seen IL time, and given the emergence of Nate Pearson alongside the rest of Toronto’s bullpen depth, those injuries haven’t exactly torpedoed the Blue Jays’ season.

Toronto’s depth was already worrying at some positions, most notably the starting rotation, and many of its Top 30 prospects on the cusp of the big leagues are off to a slow start. If the Blue Jays’ luck ever takes a step in the Yankees’ direction, they’ll need someone to step up in a hurry. This conversation includes rostered players like Santiago Espinal and Cavan Biggio, who have both struggled this season as they bounce in and out of the lineup.

It’s a marathon, and as the Yankees have a habit of showing, it’s all about how you work through some cramps along the way.