ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Yankees may want to just sweep this weekend’s series against the Rays under the rug.

But the stench of it will stick with them as they fly back to New York, owners of a five-game losing streak.

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A miserable week came to a fitting end as a late comeback fell just short and the Yankees lost to the Rays 5-4 Sunday afternoon to complete a three-game sweep at Tropicana Field.

After they were dominated by Drew Rasmussen for six one-hit innings, the Yankees (8-7) tried to come back against the Rays bullpen, getting within 3-2 in the seventh inning and then 5-4 in the ninth when Aaron Judge crushed a two-run homer. But those rallies stalled out before they could flip the score as the Yankees dropped their sixth one-run game of the season.

“Bad weekend for us, obviously,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Staying in some close games, we got to find a way to get over the hump and obviously do a better job finishing these games off. Good compete today as far as finishing and taking some tough at-bats there down the stretch and giving ourselves a chance, but obviously we can talk all about it — we got to go out and finish off some games.”

The Yankees finished with seven hits Sunday — six in the final three innings — while mustering only 13 runs and 25 hits across their five-game losing streak, undoing much of their dominant 7-1 start to the season.

“Every game matters, we know that,” Judge said. “We talk about it every season, we’ll talk about it every single month when we have tough losses like this. It’s nothing new for us. But it’s baseball. We just got to show up the next day and right the ship. You got to have a short memory and move on to the next one. It’s tough, but that game’s over with. Nothing we can do about it.”

The speedy, pesky Rays (8-7) outplayed the Yankees all weekend — leaning especially on their well-executed small ball — and Sunday was no exception. They had no problem catching up to Cam Schlittler’s heat, touching him for a season-high seven hits and three runs across five innings to build a 3-0 lead.

Then, after the Yankees got within 3-2 in the seventh inning, the Rays added on with single runs in the seventh (against Ryan Yarbrough and Camilo Doval) and eighth (against Brent Headrick) innings, refusing to give up any kind of momentum — in line with what they did all weekend. Of the six innings (that included bottom halves) in which the Yankees scored this series, the Rays scored at least one run in five of them.

After Judge’s two-run shot in the top of the ninth, Rays reliever Mason Englert retired the next two batters before Amed Rosario came within a few feet of tying it, instead settling for a double off the center field wall. The Rays then intentionally walked Austin Wells to bring up the scuffling Ryan McMahon, who had singled and smoked a flyout in his last two at-bats.

With Paul Goldschmidt the last man left on the bench — using him to pinch hit him would have meant moving Amed Rosario from right field to third base and losing the DH so Judge could play right — Aaron Boone stuck with McMahon, who grounded out on the first pitch he saw to end it.

“I’ve been a little late on the fastball, so I was trying to get ready for the fastball and he threw a changeup on a good line for a heater and I was a little bit out front,” said McMahon, who is now 4-for-35 to start the season, but far from the only Yankee yet to take off.

The Yankees had rallied in the seventh inning after Rasmussen — who now owns a career 1.03 ERA in 43 ²/₃ innings against them — retired 14 straight to end his outing. They got an RBI single from Cody Bellinger and an RBI groundout from pinch hitter Giancarlo Stanton to get within 3-2 in the seventh.

Austin Wells then pinch hit for J.C. Escarra and put a charge into a ball at 106.6 mph, but the line drive went right to left fielder Chandler Simpson (who killed the Yankees all series with his bat and legs) for the final out.

“It’s a tough game and we’re expected to go out there and win,” Judge said. “We’re expected to go out there and put our team in the best position. When things aren’t going your way, guys try to do a little extra. We’re going to be in a good spot. It’s been an up-and-down year so far but it’s still early. Guys are having great at-bats, I see a lot of bright things going on in the season and we’re going to change it.”