Yankees swept by Red Sox in doubleheader, series as offense remains punchless 

BOSTON — The Yankees’ offense without Aaron Judge?

Still bad. Very, very bad.

Gleyber Torres appeared to get the Yankees going in Game 1 of Sunday’s split doubleheader against the Red Sox with a two-run homer in the first inning. But they quickly reverted to the punchless group they’ve mostly been in Judge’s absence in a 6-2 loss at sold-out Fenway Park.

Though the Yankees hit the ball harder in Game 2, the result was about the same. They again took the lead in the top of the first, but the Red Sox completed a three-game sweep with a 4-1 victory.

“It [stinks],” Anthony Rizzo said of the Yankees, who have lost four straight and eight of 11, getting swept by their rival. “It’s definitely a low [point] in the season. But this is part of the ups and downs of a big-league season.”

The Yankees (39-33) had only seven hits in 17 innings after the first inning of Game 1. They fell to 4-8 since Judge, the reigning American League MVP, went on the injured list with a right big toe sprain. The Yankees have scored 39 runs in that 12-game stretch, and key hitters Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton, DJ LeMahieu and Josh Donaldson have gone 16-for-138 (.116)   in that span.

Jake Bauers was 3-for-7 with two doubles and Torres was 3-for-8 with a homer and a double in the doubleheader — and the rest of the lineup went 3-for-48, all singles.

“Obviously, it’s a big blow for us [Judge’s injury], but we have to figure out how to win games,” Stanton said between games. That’s the situation we’re in, so you can’t have any excuses.”

Rizzo wasn’t making any when it came to missing Judge, whom Game 2 starter Luis Severino called “the best hitter in the game.”

“One guy doesn’t make the biggest difference in the world, and for us, as a unit, we have to come together and rally — for us, for him, for everyone,” Rizzo said. “I know the narrative is ‘without-Judge this-and-that,’ but I don’t think that’s fair to put on him or anyone on this team.”

Stanton went 0-for-7 in the doubleheader, striking out five times,and extended his slide to 3-for-34. But the DH — who could start to see action in the field starting on Tuesday, according to Aaron Boone — is far from the only regular who is struggling.

LeMahieu (0-for-4), who did not play in Game 2, continues to be a mess. He is in a 14-for-86 stretch (.163) in his last 23 games.

Rizzo, 1-for-4 in Game 1 and 0-for-3 in Game 2, is in what hitting coach Dillon Lawson between games called the “worst slump of his career,” a 4-for-48 (.083) effort in his last 13 games.

Donaldson is 4-for-33 (.121) in his last 11 games.

Going into Sunday, the Yankees collectively had the worst on-base percentage in the American League (.257) in June. They had batted .200. Those numbers didn’t improve Sunday, though in Game 2, the at-bats were more competitive, with several balls blistered that found their way into Red Sox gloves, par for the course for struggling teams.

“Obviously, it continues to be a challenge for us to score runs,” Boone said. “I thought overall better at-bats tonight than in the afternoon. They made some really good plays against us on some well-hit balls, but we have to find a way right now.”

Oswaldo Cabrera scalded a liner in the second inning of Game 2 but was robbed of a hit by shortstop Pablo Reyes. Anthony Volpe had a double taken away leading off the third when third baseman Rafael Devers made a diving stop of a ground smash down the line. Centerfielder Jarren Duran tracked down a long drive by Rizzo into the triangle in right-center and made a running basket catch near the wall for the third out of the third.

Severino, whose fastball velocity had been down of late, found his high-90s fastball Sunday and was better than he’d been, but on another night of offensive futility, it was not good enough. He allowed four runs (three earned), seven hits and three walks in five innings, striking out six.

Boston righthander Brayan Bello allowed one run, four hits and three walks in seven innings in which he struck out eight.

Torres’ two-run homer gave Clarke Schmidt a 2-0 lead before he took the mound in Game 1 and he threw four scoreless innings before Boston tied it with two in the fifth.

Michael King then had one of his worst outings of an otherwise solid season, allowing three runs and four hits in 1 1⁄3 innings. All three runs were scored after he retired the first two batters in the sixth as Boston took a 5-2 lead.

“I’m just frustrated with the, I guess, lack of awareness that I couldn’t change my approach to their approach faster than I did,” said King, who felt Red Sox hitters were trying to pull against him and that he delivered pitches that allowed them to do so. “I stupidly pitched into that leftfield wall.”

Nick Ramirez allowed a triple by Masataka Yoshida and balked him home in the seventh to make it 6-2.

The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of Game 2 on an RBI groundout by Rizzo, but the Red Sox tied it in the second on an RBI double by Enrique Hernandez and went ahead in the fourth when Kyle Higashioka was called for catcher’s interference with the bases loaded and two outs. Triston Casas’ two-run double in the fifth made it 4-1.

“We’ve got to get a few of our guys going,” Boone said. “Bottom line is, it’s been a little tough for us to put points up right now and we’ve got to do a better job of that.”