Teoscar Hernández has used the month of May to show that his breakout 2020 season was the beginning of something bigger.

Since returning from the COVID-19 injured list following a slow start in April, Hernández has now hit .356 with 22 RBIs over 22 games, and he represented almost the entire offense in Sunday’s 6-4 loss to the Rays at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla.

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Hernández got the Blue Jays rolling in the fourth with a solo home run, then later reached on an infield single before Randal Grichuk launched a two-run home run to put the Blue Jays ahead late. He finished the day 3-for-4 with two RBIs, giving him four multihit performances in his last seven games.

It all fell apart, though, in a manner that was difficult to watch when the Blue Jays tried to lock it down in the ninth. Tyler Chatwood, who has been brilliant for the Blue Jays in 2021, couldn’t control his pitches and eventually handed off to Travis Bergen with the bases loaded, two out and a one-run lead.

Bergen walked the first batter he faced, tying the game. Then he walked another. And another. Of all the ways to lose, especially coming off four straight losses, this was a brutal blow for the Blue Jays to take and overshadowed the big day from Hernández.

"They’re frustrated, of course,” manager Charlie Montoyo said after his club’s fifth consecutive loss. “Those are tough losses in a row. [I told them] keep playing the way you’re playing. We’re going to be all right. Don’t change anything. Keep playing like that and we’re going to be all right. That was my message to the team.”

Hernández’s one flaw in 2020 was his strikeout rate, with 62 over 50 games. Spread that rate over a full season of 162 games, and Hernández would be pushing 200 strikeouts as an everyday player. His power numbers can cover that up to some extent, but that puts a lot of pressure on one part of his game and creates some ugly cold streaks between the bursts of power. What we’re seeing recently, though, is a more refined version of Hernández.

Entering play on Sunday, Hernández’s 22.1 percent strikeout rate was well below his 30.4 percent rate from last year, but this recent stretch has been even better. Hernández struck out 14 times in just seven games before hitting the COVID-19 IL, and he didn’t have a single walk. Over the 22 games since, he has struck out just 13 times with 10 walks. Sustaining this will be Hernández’s challenge, but he has been a completely different hitter over this stretch.

“Patience and approach,” Montoyo explained. “He’s been patient at the plate, and his approach is to right-center. It’s been paying off for him for almost a year and a half -- almost two years now.”

This isn’t just about strikeouts and walks, but about how Hernández is approaching his at-bats from pitch to pitch. Hernández showed this in the fifth inning with two runners on and a 1-1 count, when he controlled his bat well and lined an RBI single into center field to tie the game. Instead of chasing power, Hernández went down in the zone and chose contact. Besides, with Hernández’s natural power and physical gifts, all he has to do is put the bat on the ball and it will fly.

Hernández should often find himself in the right place at the right time this season, too. Batting cleanup in this Blue Jays lineup is a run-production dream, with Marcus Semien, Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ahead of him. This is why, beyond Hernández’s exceptional power, his ability to consistently put the ball in play and limit strikeouts will be so key in 2021.

The late bullpen meltdown was made even worse by the fact that it wasted a great start from Hyun Jin Ryu, especially after Robbie Ray's gem turned into a loss on Saturday. Ryu allowed two runs on eight hits over 6 2/3 innings and struck out seven, moving his ERA to 2.53. His exceptional control was on display again with just one walk over 107 pitches, continuing a recent trend of the Blue Jays’ starters working deep, but even that wasn’t enough.

“It is a rough path that we’re in right now,” Ryu said through a translator following the loss. “We’ve been losing the last couple of games, but our pitchers and our position players, we’re all doing what we can to compete and go out there and try to win. I’m sure we’re going to turn this around for the better.”

Both losses this weekend can fall on the bullpen, but the Blue Jays need their offense to start running away with some games eventually. They’re certainly due, and they have one more shot in the friendly confines of TD Ballpark on Monday before they pack their bags and move north to their new home in Buffalo.