BOSTON — Contrary to popular belief, those were not toothpicks the Yankees were swinging Saturday.
But they essentially would have served the same purpose as the lumber they did use, which has not been of much use the last few days.
For a second straight game, the Yankees got shut down by a lefty, with their offensive woes growing louder in a third straight loss to the last-place Red Sox, 4-1, on a fine afternoon at a sold-out Fenway Park.
Jake Bennett and the Red Sox bullpen held the Yankees (48-34) to just three hits for the second straight day, as they have now dropped seven of their last 10 games.
A lineup that had been finding ways to win without the back-to-back AL MVP in it suddenly looks like it dearly misses Aaron Judge, not to mention Giancarlo Stanton and Trent Grisham, who are also on the injured list.
Grisham should return within the week, but Judge and Stanton do not appear anywhere close to coming back, so the Yankees will have to figure out how to snap out of this funk without them.
More immediately, the Yankees will try to avoid a four-game sweep by the Red Sox (35-46) on Sunday night.
After Payton Tolle took a perfect game into the sixth inning against the Yankees on Friday night, Bennett had a no-hitter into the fifth on Saturday before Max Schuemann broke it up with a solo home run, which was the only thing standing between them and a shutout.
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Gerrit Cole, meanwhile, got hit around for a second straight start, giving up four runs on seven hits, including a pair of solo home runs to Masataka Yoshida (to lead off the bottom of the first) and former Yankees first-round pick Anthony Seigler (in the bottom of the second).
But the bigger culprit was the offense.
Over the first three games of this four-game set, the Yankees have gone just 14-for-94 (.149) with eight walks at the plate.
Some of their most dependable batters have contributed to the malaise. Ben Rice went 0-for-4 Saturday and is now 2-for-23 over his last six games.
Cody Bellinger went 1-for-2 with two walks, improving him to 2-for-19 over his last six games.
The Yankees started the season 18-6 against lefty starters but have now dropped five of their last six, including all three games of this series against Connolly Early, Tolle and Bennett.
The only real threat of a rally the Yankees had came in the seventh inning, when Amed Rosario and Bellinger led off with back-to-back singles.
But Bennett responded by striking out Jasson Domínguez before the Red Sox went to the bullpen for Justin Slaten, who punched out José Caballero (who challenged strike three and proved incorrect) and pinch-hitter Jazz Chisholm Jr. to squash the threat.
