Carlos Rodon hit hard again as Yankees routed by Blue Jays for fourth straight loss

TORONTO — From Team Tremendous to Team Titanic.

Just like that.

After a blowout victory at Kansas City on June 12, the Yankees stood at 49-21, coasting with the best record in the majors.

They’ve been taking on water since, not a life preserver in sight.

After a two-game sweep at the hands of the red-hot Mets, giving them four straight series losses, the Yankees continued to sink Thursday night against the decidedly un-hot Blue Jays, blown out, 9-2, in front of 36,423 at Rogers Centre.

The Yankees (52-31), who have neither hit nor pitched with any degree of consistency in falling to 3-10 in their past 13 games, were held to three hits in losing their fourth straight.

Carlos Rodon, part of a rotation suddenly listing after two-plus months of churning out dominant start after dominant start, put his team in an 8-0 hole after two innings, allowing a pair of three-run homers to George Springer in that stretch.

“It’s not easy for the offense when they’re down 5-0 after the first and then after the second they’re down 8-0,” Rodon said. “Makes it hard for them to claw back.”

Rodon (9-5, 4.42) allowed a season-high eight runs and 10 hits over five innings. He walked one and struck out eight. The lefthander has allowed a combined 21 runs (20 earned) and 28 hits in losing his last three outings.

The common denominator has been Rodon’s difficulty commanding his best pitch when throwing well, a high-90s fastball. It’s a pitch, Aaron Boone said, the opposition is “selling out” on (both of Springer’s homers came on heart-of-the plate, 96-mph fastballs).

“The command’s just not great right now,” Rodon said of the pitch. “Some adjustments to be made this week. Just need to be better.”

The last-place Blue Jays (37-43) entered this series looking much like a seller. having lost 10 of their last 14 and just snapping a seven-game losing streak.

Toronto righthander Jose Berrios, who came in 6-6 with a 3.43 ERA but with a career 5.21 ERA in 12 starts against the Yankees, allowed two runs, two hits and three walks over seven innings. He struck out eight.

“It’s tough when you’re behind the eight-ball as far as we were, and Berrios is tough and was able to get really aggressive there,” Boone said. “We had a little bit of traffic going, we were putting the ball in play for the most part . . . still trying to get a couple of guys going, but I think more of late, it’s just been us, frankly, giving up too many runs.”

The Yankees, who loaded the bases with none out in the first inning Tuesday night and did not score and then loaded the bases with one out in the first inning Wednesday night and did not score, put two on with two outs Thursday night in the first inning against Berrios — and did not score when rookie Ben Rice fouled out to third.

The Blue Jays batted around in a 39-pitch first for Rodon. Bo Bichette led off with a single and went to second when Rodon hit former Yankee Isiah Kiner-Falefa with a 1-and-2 slider. Vlad Guerrero Jr., who later homered to make it 9-2, flared one off the end of his bat down the rightfield line for an RBI double.

Then righty-hitting Justin Turner chopped one off the dirt in front of the plate, the ball meandering its way down the first base line. Rice, drafted as a catcher and learning first base on the fly in the big leagues, stood on the bag as the ball rolled toward him, hoping it would roll foul. It did not, glancing off the bag for an RBI single. Springer then made it 5-0.

“Probably should have come and gotten it,” Rice said.

A Yankees lineup that for a second straight night was without benched second baseman Gleyber Torres, whom Boone said before the game there was “a good chance” of him returning Friday night, got on the board in the fifth on Trent Grisham’s two-run homer. That made it 8-2.

It goes without saying the Yankees’ current issues go far beyond Torres, a free agent at season’s end who is highly unlikely to be back.

“We had a really good conversation in Queens,” Torres, making his first comments since being benched, said of his talk with Boone. “He proposed giving me a couple of days to reset myself. I agreed. Everything helped me to reset. I’m going to play tomorrow, and I hope doing well for the team.”