NEW YORK -- The Yankees' losing streak reached a season-long six games in a 9-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night with a blueprint that has become maddeningly familiar: falling behind big early as the short-handed offense sputters.
This time, in a showdown between two of the best starting pitchers in the majors, the Tigers tallied four runs on three homers with two outs in the first inning off Cam Schlittler, who logged the worst start of his All-Star-caliber season. On the other side, Tarik Skubal recorded his best start since returning from his unprecedented elbow surgery earlier this month, holding the Yankees to two runs (one earned) on one hit with nine strikeouts over six innings.
"This week's been rough," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "There's no sugarcoating it."
The Yankees' 16 hits over their past five games are the fewest over a five-game span in franchise history. They narrowly avoided becoming the first major league team since 1900 to compile three or fewer hits in five consecutive games thanks to back-to-back two-out singles in the ninth inning. They are 8-for-107 (.075) with 38 strikeouts and a .264 OPS as a team against starting pitchers over those five losses.
"We're all trying to have good at-bats and put stuff together, and when you want to do it so badly, you probably press," Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe said. "And it feels like, as an offense, we're pressing."
The Yankees' lineup Tuesday did not resemble anything close to the nine they fielded when the offense was humming earlier in the season.
Aaron Judge (ribs), Giancarlo Stanton (calf), Trent Grisham (hamstring) and Ryan McMahon (throat infection) remain on the injured list. Cody Bellinger, who is 2-for-27 over his past eight games, was given the night off against the left-handed Skubal. Jazz Chisholm Jr. was available only in an emergency situation after exiting Monday's game when he collided with Jasson Dominguez on a popup.
Still, this historically barren stretch is baffling for a club with three healthy potential All-Stars in Bellinger, Ben Rice and Paul Goldschmidt. Last week, Goldschmidt slugged two home runs against Skubal before Domínguez delivered a go-ahead two-run shot off the two-time defending AL Cy Young Award winner in the Yankees' 4-2 victory in Detroit.
On Tuesday, Rice clubbed a solo home run in the first inning before Skubal retired 13 straight batters. The only other Yankees to reach against Skubal did so on a hit by pitch and an error in the sixth inning.
"We know we have the talent," said Rice, whose 23 home runs are tied for fifth in the majors. "But it's such a long season. A lot of times, individually, we go through ups and downs. Sometimes the downs last a little longer than we'd like. It just so happens that right now it's kind of like the whole team is going through something at once."
That surprisingly included Schlittler on Tuesday. The tall right-hander quickly dismissed the game's first two batters before encountering trouble. First, Kerry Carpenter crushed a cutter that Yankees center fielder Spencer Jones caught with a leap before it popped out of his glove and over the wall. Riley Greene followed with a towering blast. Two batters later, Spencer Torkelson belted a two-run shot.
Greene added another home run off Schlittler in the fourth inning, giving the Tigers four in three innings.
Schlittler had given up six home runs in 121⅓ innings over his past 20 starts, including the postseason, according to ESPN Insights. His AL-leading 1.62 ERA climbed to 2.08 over his four-plus innings.
"Not good," Schlittler said. "I got ahead a lot in the first there. Just didn't execute with two strikes, and for a team that likes to put the ball in the air on fastballs, I just didn't get the job done."
The Yankees will look to avoid the sweep in a matinee Wednesday afternoon before welcoming back Grisham and McMahon from the injured list Friday. Bellinger will be in the lineup. Chisholm could be. Judge and Stanton remain out for an extended period, but the Yankees' offense must figure it out without them.
"It's difficult, but all we can do is show up tomorrow and get to work," Volpe said. "Everyone's pissed, so just do what we gotta do, do our jobs to get a win and start from there."