Red Sox Triggered Yankees’ Historic Scoring Slump Led By Aaron Judge

The first-place Yankees look like a last-place team.

New York has lost five straight games, highlighted (or lowlighted) by a 29-inning scoreless streak which started Sunday in Boston.

After the Red Sox blanked the Yankees, 2-0, the Bronx Bombers dropped a pair of home games to the Los Angeles Angels, losing 1-0 (in 11 innings) and 4-0. As a result, the Yankees’ lead in the American League East is down to 2 1/2 games over the Tampa Bay Rays. The Red Sox are in fourth place, 5 1/2 games back.

Let’s face it: The numbers never lie.

The Yankees have been blanked in three consecutive games seven times in their 123-year history, according to the Associated Press. But it happened only three times in the last 50 years, most recently from Sept. 22-24, 2016. The last major league team to get shut out in four straight games was the Kansas City Royals in September 2017.

On top of that, the Yankees have scored just five runs in their last six games. The last time the Yankees scored five runs or fewer in a six-game span? August 1968.

During the last six games, the Yankees are hitting .164. The poster child for New York’s power problems is Aaron Judge.

“The two-time American League MVP is 1-for-11 with six strikeouts and two intentional walks in the three shutout losses,” ESPN’s Jorge Castillo reported Tuesday. “Zoom out further, and Judge is 2-for-20 with 13 strikeouts and one home run over his past five games. His batting average has sunk from .394 to .372 during the stretch.”

Despite the team-wide slump, the Yankees still rank among the top five teams in the majors in runs (370), homers (109) and OPS (.784).

“It’s been a little struggle the last couple days, which unfortunately is going to happen,” manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday, per the AP. “It’s just always shocking to see our group not score runs, right? Especially a few days in a row now.

“We’ve just got to focus on the little things — think small, big things come.”

Following Tuesday’s loss, the Yankees held a a players-only meeting, according to Castillo.

“We had good talks,” outfielder Cody Bellinger said, per Castillo. “I’ve been part of a bunch of teams. It’s a little rut we’re in and we got to get out of it. Good teams get out of it.”

The Yankees will try to snap their slump on Wednesday when they continue their four-game series with the Angels at Yankee Stadium.