Yankees' bats 'in a little rut,' blanked in third straight - ESPN

NEW YORK — For nearly three months, the New York Yankees arguably had the best offense in the majors. The past three days have told a very different story.

The Yankees were shut out for the third consecutive game Tuesday, falling 4-0 to the Los Angeles Angels for their season-high fifth straight loss and extending their mind-boggling scoreless innings streak to 29 innings to light boos from the Yankee Stadium crowd. New York has not tallied a run since scoring in the ninth inning against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday. They had been shut out just twice in their first 69 games of the season.

«It's been a little struggle the last couple days, which, unfortunately, it's going to happen,» Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. «It's just always shocking to see our group not score runs, right, especially a few days in a row now.»

It's the seventh time the Yankees have been shut out in three straight games in franchise history, according to ESPN Research. The 29-inning scoreless skid is the franchise's longest since going 33 innings without a run in September 2016. They've compiled 33 strikeouts and left 24 runners on base during the drought. Since last Thursday, they have scored five runs in six games.

«It's always a certain point where it's not necessarily going your way and you feel it,» Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger said. «And you kind of feel this extra pressure to get the job done.»

On Tuesday, it was Kyle Hendricks' turn to hold the Yankees in check. The soft-throwing veteran right-hander, who entered Tuesday with the second-highest ERA in the majors among qualified starters, limited the Yankees to four hits with nine strikeouts to one walk over six innings. He produced 13 swing-and-misses with his 98 pitches. Not one