Yankees’ struggling offense sputters again in lifeless loss to Rays

On Saturday — as in much of the past five weeks or so — a base runner counted as a significant development for the Yankees.

Any hint of offense these days should be cherished.

And so Aaron Judge’s leadoff walk in the bottom of the fourth, when the Yankees already trailed by four runs, represented a trace of hope.

That hope immediately was slapped by reality: New cleanup hitter Austin Wells smacked the first pitch he saw from Taj Bradley hard into the ground, a double play erasing any thought of a rally.

The Yankees’ two-man offense was reduced to a zero-man offense in a fight-less, 9-1 loss to the Rays in front of 43,173 in The Bronx.

Their 19th defeat in the past 28 games included persistent groundouts from an offense that was on the verge of its seventh shutout of the season before Juan Soto tripled in the ninth and scored in garbage time.

Aaron Boone’s group finished with five hits — three in the last inning — on an afternoon the Rays finished with four home runs.

“It’s time to flip the page, I feel like,” Nestor Cortes said after a second straight subpar effort against the Rays. “We got to be better, starting with myself.”

Since this funk began June 15, the Yankees (59-41) have found no semblance of consistency.

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On days when Judge and Soto can’t inject life into the offense, it too often flatlines.

Boone has tried to shake up the lineup on several occasions, first bumping Ben Rice to the leadoff spot (where Rice recently has stalled) and Saturday by upgrading Wells and downgrading Alex Verdugo.

The problem has not appeared to be the order of the hitters but the hitters themselves.

“We got to make it happen right now with what we have and try and piece it together,” said Boone, who pointed in particular at hopeful plate appearances from Rice and Wells. “The reality is, there are some good things happening with guys.”

Some strong at-bats have not translated into enough strong results.

Rice’s average is down to .218.

DJ LeMahieu is 0-for-his-last-17.

Verdugo is in a 3-for-35 rut.

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Even the elevated Wells has just three hits in his past 21 at-bats.

Rice got the Yankees started in the first inning with a double to the gap in right-center.

After a Soto groundout moved him to third, Judge and Wells struck out.

The Yankees did not put another runner into scoring position — or record another hit — until the eighth inning.

On days when even base runners can’t be manufactured, nine runs feels like a mountain to climb.

“I’m sure the front office will do something to make this team better,” Cortes said when asked about the July 30 deadline. “Everybody’s saying how bad we’ve been playing, but if you look across the league and see, we’re right there with them.”

The Yankees are still in fine position in the standings, but they are trending down — as is Cortes.

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He induced just five whiffs on 48 Rays swings and too often suffered whiplash from watching Tampa Bay crack pitches all over the park for a trio of home runs.

The six runs he surrendered in 4 ¹/₃ innings swelled his ERA to 3.99.

The trouble began when Curtis Mead drilled an RBI double off the wall in left-center for the first run in the third.

An inning later, Alex Jackson snuck a three-run shot just over the right-field wall and Judge’s leaping glove.

In the fifth, Isaac Paredes — a third baseman whom the Yankees could target at the deadline — crushed a sweeper over the left-field wall.

Two batters later, Randy Arozarena chose left-center for the first of his two home runs on a day the Rays (49-49) looked like the team that should be doing some buying at the deadline.

“This team is just a tick away from being great,” Cortes said. “I have no doubt that we’re going to be better and the front office will make this team better.”

The biggest deadline need might be within the lineup. After Judge’s walk in the fourth, the next 12 pinstriped hitters were retired.

The Yankees continually put the ball on the ground against Bradley, who recorded 21 outs — just two through the air.

“We were playing in to his game plan,” Rice said. “Just swinging at some edge pitches maybe or some stuff that’s hard to hit hard.”

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