As bats continue to struggle, Blue Jays fall out of Wild Card spot

CINCINNATI — As the band playing a post-game yacht rock concert broke into ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” on the infield of Great American Ball Park, the Blue Jays were neither dancing, jiving nor having the time of their lives.

Friday evening’s 1-0 walk-off loss to the Reds dragged on as both offenses continued to slam into the wall, over and over again, but Cincinnati finally busted it down. When Christian Encarnacion-Strand turned in a home run in the bottom of the ninth, a stadium that had sat silent all evening suddenly erupted, and the party spilled over into the hours after the win.

The Blue Jays were held to just three hits and two walks in Friday’s loss. They couldn’t crack starter Brett Kennedy, who opened the season with the independent league Long Island Ducks.

“It just wasn’t our night, really,” manager John Schneider said. “We had pitches to hit that were in the zone and we didn’t hit them, which we usually do. We kind of got in a bit of a rut there in the middle of the game. It just wasn’t our night. Looking back at pitches, they were there. I think we just missed our pitches tonight.”

The Blue Jays’ offensive struggles have oscillated between problems of mathematics and problems of philosophy. So many of this club’s expected stats and underlying metrics point toward an offense that is significantly better than what we’ve seen on the field. It hasn’t happened, though, at least not with any form of consistency.

Backing away from the numbers, it begs the broader question of how a lineup stacked with star talent can have such quiet nights. Is this a matter of the team’s initial gameplan, their in-game execution or a lack of adjustments on the fly?

“There’s a ton of information that everyone has and that we have,” Schneider said. “It’s all about shrinking the strike zone a little bit. [Kennedy] was living on the edge with the sinker, and his changeup is his best pitch. I think guys were well prepared for it. You kind of have to adjust as the game goes and see what he does to righties, to lefties, things like that.”

Friday night is what it looks like when that in-game adjustment doesn’t come.

There will be times when a young pitcher comes up and surprises the league at first, staying a step ahead of hitters who have limited information on them. Like Schneider says, though, the Blue Jays had plenty to work with when it came to Kennedy, who had been pitching with the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate in Louisville since mid-May.

Difficulties against Kennedy, and several other starters who didn’t appear particularly threatening, inspire an understandable sense of worry. How, then, will the Blue Jays attack and adjust to a postseason rotation, when playoff-caliber clubs are rolling out their very best starters and relievers every single night?

That’s what the club will be working on for the next 39 games.

An offense that now ranks 16th in runs scored (546) has also put its incredible pitching staff in some tough spots. José Berríos gave the Blue Jays 5 2/3 scoreless innings and the bullpen backed him up until Jordan Hicks surrendered the walk-off homer, an effort that should have been enough for a win.

“Sometimes we think about that, but sometimes we don’t know how the game is going because we are so locked in trying to execute pitches,” Berríos said. “No matter what, if we are tied, winning or losing, we have to make pitches and compete. That’s what I did tonight.”

With the Wild Card race so tight, the Blue Jays are officially at the point where each of these games carries a heavy weight.

“We know have a chance to make it happen, to make the playoffs,” Berríos said. “Baseball is a beautiful sport. We lost 1-0 tonight, but tomorrow is another opportunity and another day.”

The good news is that the Blue Jays are expecting star shortstop Bo Bichette to return on Saturday after missing nearly three weeks with a knee injury. Bichette has become the face of this offense — maybe the face of this organization altogether — and his timing couldn’t be better.

Toronto is looking at life on the other end of the spectrum against this Reds team. Cincinnati is overachieving based on its pre-season expectations, and the club is doing it its own way, with speed and exciting young talent.

The Blue Jays’ pitching and defense can beat that. Frankly, at this point, that’s looking like the way they’ll need to win games, but those two strengths don’t mean a thing next to a zero.