There was no better time for José Berríos to face the sputtering Athletics, who entered Thursday’s series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays having lost 13 of their last 14 games.

Run support, of course, wasn’t an issue a night ago for Berríos as the Blue Jays’ offence provided him with an eight-run cushion before the start of the third inning. And, well, that made for a much-needed stress-free outing for the 31-year-old hurler.

Almost all of the focus from Thursday’s 12-0 beatdown was on a lineup that doubled its scoring from an offensive-deficient six-game road trip through Tampa Bay and Texas that consisted of just six total runs. At the same time, though, Berríos deserves his flowers, too.

This was, by far, the best we’ve seen of him all season.

Berríos dominated out of the gate, retiring each of the first nine batters he faced — seven via strikeout. While his perfection ended with a leadoff walk in the fourth, followed by a two-out double later in the frame, he got back on track with a 1-2-3 fifth and was able to walk off the field with his teammates an inning later with his shutout still intact.

With Toronto well out in front, the veteran righty was given a well-deserved handshake from manager John Schneider after throwing 90 pitches (57 strikes), completing six scoreless innings of two-hit, two-walk ball while striking out nine — matching a season-high.

But as impressive as the results were for Berríos Thursday night, there was something deeper seemingly at play here.

Lately, the right-hander has been grinding through his outings. More than usual, at least. It largely hasn’t prevented him from putting his team in a position to win, though, which has made it pretty difficult to pick up on.

Take his two previous starts, for example. He logged six innings of work in each of those outings against the Detroit Tigers on May 18 and last Saturday versus the Tampa Bay Rays, earning quality starts in both.

Even so, Berríos didn’t have the luxury of working with his best stuff in either of those outings. And that’s been a recurring theme for him in 2025, considering his overall Stuff+ has fallen to a career-worst 91 (100 league average), likewise for his Location+ — also at a career-worst score of 95.

Everything came together against the A’s, though, particularly the effectiveness of his fastballs (four-seamer, sinker, cutter). All three had witnessed a recent decline in both velocity and location. But they received a considerable bump in the right direction a night ago, allowing him to register 95 m.p.h. on the radar gun for the first time since May 1 — ending a drought that had spanned four straight starts.

Further to Schneider’s point, Berríos’ average fastball velocity entered uncharted territory just one start ago, dropping to 90.7 m.p.h. — the lowest of his career, one decimal point below his previous mark set on July 31, 2019.

In the right-hander’s defence, he was forced to pitch in the sweltering conditions down at George M. Steinbrenner Field — the Rays’ temporary home for this season and former home ballpark of the Yankees’ single-A affiliate — during an afternoon affair in his previous start. So, those less-than-ideal conditions likely played a factor in his diminished velocity.

Nevertheless, it had to be encouraging for the Blue Jays to watch his average fastball velocity return to form versus the A’s, rising to 92.5 m.p.h. — his highest reading since May 1.

This was an important step in the right direction for Berríos, who lowered his ERA to 3.86 and his FIP to 4.40 on the season. He has also now recorded eight or more strikeouts in half of his six starts in May, raising his strikeout rate to 22.2 per cent — nearly three per cent higher than last season’s.

Fortunately, thanks to the Blue Jays’ rotation shuffle and Monday’s off-day, Berríos will receive extra rest before making his next start against a loaded Philadelphia Phillies lineup, affording him a bonus recovery day, one that may prove beneficial after Sportsnet’s broadcast reported he had been battling soreness of late.