MIAMI — Mathematically, the Yankees only dropped one game in the playoff race Sunday with 44 games to go.

In every other way possible, it felt like a much more damaging blow to the gut — and possibly their season.

Desperate for any kind of momentum to make a run with less than two months left in the season, the Yankees were three outs away from gaining some, only to throw it all away in an epic collapse.

In a season that has been too crowded with brutal losses, Clay Holmes and the Yankees blew a four-run lead in the ninth inning as they lost to the Marlins in stunning fashion, 8-7, at a sold-out loanDepot Park.

One inning away from claiming their first series over a team with a winning record since late June, the Yankees (60-58) fell flat on their faces.

They dropped to 1-8-3 over their last 12 series and five games back of the Blue Jays for the final American League wild-card spot.

“Anytime you lose, it’s tough, especially in the situation we’re in where every game matters, every game is so important, especially going down the stretch here,” Aaron Judge said.

“This one sucks right here, especially with the lead we had and the at-bats we had, but we gotta show up [Monday].”

Instead of entering a daunting series Monday against the juggernaut Braves on a high note, the Yankees will now have to try to pick themselves back up after their latest crushing defeat.

In a game they once led 7-1, the Yankees entered the bottom of the ninth leading 7-3. The Marlins (62-57) rallied to tie it against Holmes and win it on Jake Burger’s walk-off single against Tommy Kahnle.

All five runs were charged to Holmes, who had given up just three runs over his last 35 appearances (34 ²/₃ innings) before Sunday.

“We know that the mountain gets bigger with every loss,” Holmes said. “We know we have to put together some wins and string them together to get some momentum going. To take this series would have been good momentum to finish this road trip. But losses like these, definitely they hurt a little bit.”

The Yankees are now 16-9 in games started by Gerrit Cole, with at least a handful of those losses being the gut-punch variety, including Sunday.

The ace left the game with a 7-2 lead after six innings, only to watch it go up in flames.

Yuli Gurriel led off the bottom of the ninth with a double on a 1-2 pitch but Holmes struck out the next batter.

Nick Fortes then hit an infield single up the middle before Holmes walked Jazz Chisholm on a full count to load the bases.

Josh Bell came up next and hit a comebacker to the mound that Holmes tried to make a play on but fumbled.

Having lost a chance at a potential game-ending double play, Holmes collected the ball and made things worse by rushing a wild throw to first, allowing a second run to score on the play.

“It was hit in that awkward spot, kind of right at my hip,” Holmes said. “Even if I field it clean, I could probably go home there, maybe could turn two. Definitely a big momentum change.”

Luis Arraez followed with a triple down the first-base line that rolled all the way to the right-field corner to tie the game at seven.

Kahnle then entered and walked a batter before Burger lined a single to left, over a five-man infield, to end it.

Before it all fell apart, the Yankees had put together another encouraging game of at-bats.

They scored every inning from the second through sixth to take and build on a lead with Cole on the mound.

But all of that potential momentum was flushed away in one single inning that could have done irreparable damage to the Yankees’ season.

“They never feel good, obviously,” manager Aaron Boone said. “But we don’t have a lot of time. We gotta get back on the horse [Monday] and find a way.”