Blue Jays Week in Review: The good, the bad and the noteworthy for April 13

The Blue Jays were moments away from dropping another divisional matchup in their series finale against the Orioles on Sunday, but the team once again showed their clutch gene and pulled out a 7-6 win.

That winning week means the Blue Jays went 4-2 on the week (with one game rained out), which puts them at the top of the American League East with with a 9-7 record.

However, the week could have gone very differently based on how close the margins were in some of the games. Lets break down the the week that was.

Blue Jays Week in Review: The good, the bad and the noteworthy for April 13

The Good: 4-2 against division rivals

Taking three of four in Boston and avoiding a sweep against the Orioles gave the Orioles plenty to feel good about as the week ended.

While the Blue Jays enter Monday in first place in the American League East, they're also only 2 1/2 games away from last place. That razor-thin margin shows how important last week's wins were even though it's only April.

The Blue Jays made a statement with their series win over the Red Sox.

After being swept by the Mets in the series prior, Toronto’s pitching was incredibly effective against the Red Sox. The Blue Jays allowed just four runs over the first three games along with outscoring the Red Sox 17-8 in the series. The Blue Jays also had a chance to pick up a series sweep after forcing extra innings in the season finale.

After rain washed out Friday’s opener in Baltimore, Toronto found itself in another tight contest on Saturday, against the Orioles. Baltimore prevailed 5-4 after the Blue Jays squandered some opportunities to put the game out of reach.

The Blue Jays flipped that script on Sunday when they stormed back from a 6-2 deficit to take the lead (and pick up the win) in extra innings. Jeff Hoffman closed the door with two scoreless innings.

The Bad: The errors, physically and mentally

The Blue Jays committed eight errors as a team in their six games this week, which just isn't good enough. The Blue Jays have won back-to-back team Gold Glove Awards, so it’s rare to them struggle so much in the field.

While some of those errors came in the form of plays that weren’t made, there were also some mental errors that negatively affected the team.

A quick chronological rundown:

Monday: Will Wagner’s throwing error allowed a Red Sox leadoff hitter to reach base, who later scored. The Blue Jays won 6-2.

Tuesday: Bo Bichette made a wide throw of first, but it did not result in a run. The Blue Jays won 6-1.

Wednesday: Alejandro Kirk's errant throw to second on a steal attempt allowed the tying run to advance and score. The Blue Jays won 2-1. O

Thursday: Wagner’s missed play and Yimi García's wild pitch led to tying runs. Andrés Giménez then bobbled the ball, allowing the winning run to score. The Blue Jays lost 4-3 in extras.

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Saturday: Vladimir Guerrero failed to catch a throw from Bichette, leading to a rally by the Orioles. The Blue Jays lost 5-4.

Sunday: Errors by Bichette and Guerrero allowed runs to score, and Lukes was picked off in the ninth. The Blue Jays won 7-6 in extras.

While these errors weren’t the sole reason for the Blue Jays lost two games this week, they could have been a catalyst for a few more losses.

 The Noteworthy: Easton Lucas was spectacular through two starts

Lucas came into the season a bit of a non-factor non-factor coming into the season, as he had a career 9.82 ERA in 18 1/3 major league innings coming into the year.

But even with that, the Blue Jays elected to call Lucas up to fill Max Scherzer's spot in the rotation, where he promptly made the front office look like geniuses by allowing one run over five innings against the Nationals in his season debut.

He then followed that up by shutting out the Boston Red Sox over 5 1/3 innings at Fenway Park.

He allowed just three hits, struck out eight and became just the fourth pitcher in Blue Jays history to record back-to-back starts of 5+ innings while allowing zero runs, zero extra-base hits and four-or-fewer base runners. He’s also the first pitcher to ever accomplish that in his first two major league starts.

Looking ahead:

The Blue Jays return to Toronto and will host a three-game series with the Atlanta Braves starting on Monday. The Braves are 4-11 after losing the first seven games of the season.

Lucas is expected to go to the bump for Toronto against Grant Holmes (0-1 4.00 ERA). Holmes hasn’t made it out of the fourth inning in his first two starts of the season, but was effective his last time out against the Phillies with four shutout innings.

After Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt get the ball over the next two days, the Blue Jays will have their their first scheduled day off since April 3.