Anthony Rizzo receiving a breather against a tough left-handed pitcher happens.

What rarely happens is the Yankees sitting their starting first baseman against a tough lefty and inserting another lefty hitter in Rizzo’s place.

Manager Aaron Boone nevertheless plugged in Jake Bauers — who has been used almost exclusively against righty pitching this season — at first base Wednesday night, a reflection of how deep Rizzo has sunk during his current slump.

Bauers, who entered play 3-for-17 (.177) against opposing southpaws, struck out twice against Tampa Bay lefty Shane McClanahan and finished 0-for-4 in the Yankees’ 7-2 win.

Rizzo was out of the lineup for the first time in two weeks on a day that Boone said he had earmarked to give his regular first baseman a rest.

“Rizz, especially when he’s going well, does a really good job against lefties,” Boone said.

Rizzo owns an OPS that has sunk from .880 at the end of May to .706. Since late May — around the time he collided at first base with the Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr., which bothered his neck — Rizzo has become nearly unplayable.

But the Yankees continued to play him during a 46-game span in which the three-time All-Star has hit .172 with one home run and 44 strikeouts in 169 at-bats.

Rizzo showed life July 23 when he went 4-for-4 in what appeared to be a slump-busting breakout, but he he has hit 138 without an extra-base hit and with 10 strikeouts since.

Boone said the break would be a short one, though he acknowledged he has considered a longer, multi-game pause that might allow Rizzo to reset.

The manager said he would remain open to any option that might help Rizzo play to is usual standards. Boone also said he has seen sporadic signs that the 33-year-old can snap out of his slump.

“He has stung a couple of balls here these last couple of games. A hit and a rocket [Tuesday] night,” Boone said of Rizzo, who actually has hit better versus lefties than righties this year, but who has hit well against virtually no one recently. “Through this stretch where he’s really struggled, he has shown days where he looks like he’s moving the needle here, and then he has a tough one.”

Just about the entire Yankees offense, apart from Aaron Judge, has had tough ones for several months, although Bauers has been a nice find.

The corner outfielder and first baseman entered Wednesday with a .966 OPS with three home runs in his previous 12 games. The bulk of his damage came against right-handed pitching.

Bauers also could not come through on a play at first base that Rizzo, a four-time Gold Glover, might have made in the fifth inning.

Gleyber Torres fielded a Rene Pinto ground ball up the middle and fired in the dirt to first. Bauers could not make the pick, though the play was inconsequential as Gerrit Cole escaped the inning.

Boone pointed out McClanahan had been equally effective against lefty and righty hitters.

Still, Bauers and catcher Ben Rortvedt were the only lefty swingers in the starting lineup.

And Rizzo got a break — but not an extended one.

“We’ll keep working through [ideas to get Rizzo going],” Boone said.