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BALTIMORE — It’s like déjà vu all over again.

The Yankees changed hitting coaches, brought in more contact hitters and now say they are confident the tide will turn because … it will.

“I just think we’re better overall,’’ Aaron Boone said Friday. “We want to be better than 2-for-11, but that wasn’t the problem. We didn’t get enough of anything tonight.”

Eight games into the season, the Yankees are still struggling with runners in scoring position on a nearly nightly basis. They entered Saturday having grounded into nine double plays — second-most in the majors.

When asked about the recurring trend after Friday night’s loss, when the Yankees went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position, Boone said: “It’s fair to say that about last year. We’ll be fine. … The bottom line is one run is not gonna get it done.”

They still haven’t scored more than four runs since their Opening Day win over Boston, when they got to the Red Sox for six runs over 11 innings.


  Isiah Kiner-Falefa breaks his bat during the Yankees’ 2-1, 11-inning loss to the Orioles. USA TODAY Sports Isiah Kiner-Falefa breaks his bat during the Yankees’ 2-1, 11-inning loss to the Orioles. USA TODAY Sports

With 25 runs scored on the season, the Yankees’ offense was behind every American League team besides the Orioles and Royals.

The Yankees are also striking out at a higher rate than last season (25.3-24.1 percent) and walking less often (8.4-10.2).

And on Friday, they hit into rally-killing double plays, only got seven hits and had 13 batters in a row retired by Baltimore’s bullpen.

On top of all that, one of the hitters who actually has been productive in the early going — Anthony Rizzo — ran into an out when he was hit by a Giancarlo Stanton grounder while trying to reach third base in the 11th inning.

“[We] probably just need that one to break it open, to get it going,’’ Rizzo said Friday. “Throughout this early start, we’ve given ourselves a couple looks a night. I think once we capitalize on a couple, it’s going to be contagious.”

But it seems fair to wonder if there’s any correlation between the issues the Yankees had in scoring runs a year ago and their current problems.

“This is 2022,’’ Rizzo said. “This is a week, eight games, into a whole new journey. We’re going to have ups and downs throughout the year. It’s just the ebbs and flows of the season.”

So far, the ebbs and flows haven’t been good. In their previous three games prior to Saturday, they had struck out a combined 32 times.

And the power on which the offense is based has been absent from a significant portion of the lineup. Stanton, Josh Donaldson, Aaron Hicks, Kyle Higashioka and Joey Gallo have combined for five extra-base hits in eight games.

Gallo entered Saturday without an extra-base hit or an RBI.

An AL scout who has watched the Yankees for three games this season said it is too early to raise many red flags, but understands the attention their lack of offense is getting.

“They have some streaky hitters,’’ the scout said. “But Gallo hasn’t looked right since he got there. I’d expect most of the other guys to be fine, whether it’s Donaldson or Stanton. We’ve seen so little from Hicks, it’s hard to know what to predict. I understand why the narrative is there and if it doesn’t improve, it could get ugly.”

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