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BALTIMORE — The Yankees have been very good at digging themselves a deep hole since Opening Day, one they may not be able to escape.

Thursday night at Camden Yards, they had help from Chris Guccione with the shovel, when the third-base umpire missed a balk by Orioles starter Kevin Gausman with Starlin Castro at third base in the fourth inning of a game that turned out to be a 1-0 Yankees’ loss in 10 innings.

Of course, Guccione missing Gausman not stopping in the set position wasn’t the only reason the Yankees finished a nine-game road trip with a dismal 2-7 ledger.

They wasted eight shutout innings by Masahiro Tanaka by not scoring a run. They watched Castro get picked off second base by catcher Matt Wieters to end the ninth with Brian McCann at the plate. And Johnny Barbato gave up two singles to start the final frame before Andrew Miller surfaced to give up a game-winning sacrifice fly to Pedro Alvarez that pleased most of the 19,598 in attendance.

“It’s kind of been the story of the season, we haven’t hit,’’ Mark Teixeira said. “It’s not rocket science, we just need to execute better.’’

Tanaka allowed five hits, a walk and whiffed seven in easily his best outing of the year. The problem was that Gausman gave up three hits, didn’t issue a walk and fanned four.

At 9-17, the Yankees open a 10-game home stand in The Bronx on Friday night against the Red Sox. The defending champion Royals arrive Monday for the first of four games and the AL Central-leading White Sox follow with three.

Considering the Red Sox and White Sox are playing well and the Royals at some point will start to click, the Yankees could be in serious trouble.

“We are looking to getting in front of our home fans and scoring some runs,’’ Teixeira said.

That’s easier said than accomplished with a lineup that has major holes.

Girardi couldn’t have known the non-balk call was going to cost his club the game in the fourth inning and was livid with Guccione tossing him.

“He’s balking,’’ Girardi said of Gausman. “He was not stopping.’’

Girardi was chirping at Guccione from the far end of the third-base dugout throughout Carlos Beltran’s at-bat. Guccione continuously waved Girardi back toward the home plate end of the dugout, but Girardi remained within earshot. When Beltran ended the inning with a pop out, Girardi took one step out of the dugout and was ejected.

“Before going out, he threw me out,’’ Girardi said. “I still don’t understand how that is not a balk.’’

Faced with runners at the corners and nobody out in the 10th, Miller shouldered the blame for the loss.

“It’s not ideal but I have to make a better pitch,’’ said Miller, who wanted the pitch to Alvarez further away. “I would like it back because if I get it to [Ryan] Flaherty [the next hitter], it gets better.’’

One theory is the Yankees’ season has to get better because it can’t get worse. However, you watch the way the Yankees don’t hit and wonder if it is already too late to escape a woeful beginning of a season that held promise five weeks ago.

Thursday night the lack of hits flushed a premium performance by their ace.

“Obviously we are not at our best right now,’’ Tanaka said through a translator. “My job is to put up zeroes and try to do what I can control.’’

Tanaka delivered eight zeroes and it wasn’t enough to keep the ditch from getting deeper.