Summoned to pinch hit with one out in the seventh inning and the Yankees trailing by a run Saturday, Travis Hafner smacked a one-out double. Austin Romine and Brett Gardner followed with groundouts.
Ichiro Suzuki opened the next inning with a single. He never advanced past first base.
In the ninth, Zoilo Almonte opened with a single. He never advanced past first, either.
The Yankees offense was nearly invisible in The Bronx in Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Twins, once again delivering a lowly, unproductive performance. Last season, the Yankees tallied just 18 games in which they scored one run or fewer; Saturday marked the 19th such occasion this season.
Phil Hughes surrendered three home runs, too many for a struggling Yankees offense, and he allowed four runs in 7¹/₃ innings, while striking out 10, tying his career-high. The Yankees’ bats, though, managed just eight hits (two for extra bases), three walks and went 2-for-16 with men on base.
The Yankees are 10th in the AL in runs, tied with the Twins, who have played three fewer games. They rank 14th in OPS (.683) — only the Astros are worse, and Houston is on pace for more than 100 losses.
The unofficial first half of the season ends this afternoon. Can — and will — the Yankees offense be better after the All-Star break? Or is this representative of what this lineup is?
“I think we can be better. I think we can be more consistent,” manager Joe Girardi said. “But I don’t think it’s an offense that’s going to average six runs per game.”
Curtis Granderson, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are among the possible returns after the All-Star break. But each of them either has a questionable return date or uncertainty about their ability to stay healthy.
When scoring two runs or fewer, the Yankees are just 2-29. Last season, they were 6-27 in such games. This season, not only are the Yankees scoring fewer runs more regularly, they’re losing those games more often.
“I think there’s more [from this offense],” Lyle Overbay said.
After the Yankees — who are now 32-8 in their last 40 games against the Twins, including the playoffs — grabbed a 1-0 lead on Robinson Cano’s first-inning RBI single, Hughes served up Trevor Plouffe’s homer to left in the second, tying things at 1-1.
Hughes then allowed Ryan Doumit’s solo homer in the seventh and Pedro Florimon’s two-run blast in the eighth. He only surrendered two other hits and walked just one to go along with the 10 strikeouts.
“I feel like my slider was probably the best it’s been all season,” Hughes said.
The Yankees also cost themselves a possible run in the fourth inning with their baserunning. With two outs, Vernon Wells was at third and Almonte was on first. Almonte broke for second but got thrown out stealing — before Wells crossed the plate.
“That’s probably my fault,” Girardi said. “That’s a situation where I assumed he understood that he shouldn’t get tagged. I’m going to take the blame for this. That he shouldn’t have gotten tagged out. And you know what happens when you assume.”
mark.hale@nypost.com