Struggling Yankees start July on sour note with loss to Reds

Not even Aaron Judge can win games by himself.

Despite hitting his MLB-leading 32nd home run, Judge couldn’t overcome another poor start from Luis Gil and another rough night from the rest of the offense in a 5-4 loss to the Reds in The Bronx.

Facing Cincinnati closer Alexis Diaz in the ninth, the Yankees needed two batters to reach base to get Judge to the plate again.

But Trent Grisham struck out looking, pinch-hitter Austin Wells flied to right and the slumping Anthony Volpe popped out to end it.

With the loss, the Yankees have dropped six of their past eight games and nine of their past 12.

They had hoped to have put a subpar month behind them by closing out June with a win Sunday in Toronto that featured Gerrit Cole’s best performance since returning from the IL. But the same worrying trends that have hurt the Yankees for much of the past month were evident again Tuesday.

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Gil had a third straight ugly outing, unable to get an out in the fifth inning — part of what’s been a growing rough patch for much of the rotation.

Aaron Boone was asked about giving Gil added rest heading into his next start and noted that he’d had an extra day each of his past three starts.

“So we’ll see,” Boone said. “We’ll consider everything.”

After being down by five runs in the fifth, the Yankees came back with three in the sixth before Judge’s onslaught continued with another homer an inning later that brought them to within a run.

But the Yankees didn’t get another base runner the rest of the game.

It made the starting pitching woes more pronounced, as no Yankees starter has pitched more than five innings since Nestor Cortes tossed seven innings against Atlanta on June 23.

Tuesday, Gil showed some improvement from his previous two disasters, when he’d allowed 12 runs in just 5 ²/₃ innings.

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This time, after a walk to Jonathan India to start the game, Gil retired the next nine batters. But he faltered in the fourth, and Elly De La Cruz snapped the streak with a leadoff triple. It led to the game’s first run, as De La Cruz scored when Jeimer Candelario followed with an RBI groundout to second.

Gil walked a pair in the inning, but got out of the fourth without another run scoring.

He stumbled again in the fifth, hitting Stuart Fairchild with a 1-2 changeup then allowing a two-run homer to center to Will Benson.

Gil continued to unravel, as he followed Benson’s home run by drilling India with his final pitch.

Caleb Ferguson entered and immediately gave up a long two-run home run into the visiting bullpen by De La Cruz to make it 5-0.

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“It’s tough, but there’s no giving up,’’ Gil said through an interpreter after giving up four runs to raise his ERA to 3.41. “You have to keep battling, keep fighting.’’

“You’ve got to remember, this is his first time starting in the big leagues,’’ Jose Trevino said. “It’s just growing pains. This is just a bad moment. This isn’t a bad season.”

The Yankees offense finally got to right-hander Graham Ashcraft, who had an ERA of 8.53 in his previous four starts, in the sixth, with a single by Judge, a walk to Verdugo followed by an RBI single from Gleyber Torres.

Ben Rice hit a two-run double to right to cut the deficit to two runs, and Judge’s solo shot to left with two outs off lefty Sam Moll in the seventh, made it 5-4.

That proved to be it, as Judge had three hits — as many as the rest of the lineup combined.

“These are our guys,” Boone said of the offense. “For the most part, it’s been a really successful offense. We have a few guys going through it right now.”

Coupled with some shaky performances from the rotation — especially by Gil and Wednesday’s starter, Carlos Rodon — it’s no surprise why the Yankees have stumbled of late.

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