Anthony Rizzo’s power outage continues at worst time for Yankees: ‘It sucks’

Anthony Rizzo is in the middle of an ill-timed power drought.

The first baseman, who hasn’t homered since he went deep in back-to-back games on May 23-24 in Cincinnati, went hitless from the leadoff spot in the Yankees’ 6-3 loss to the Orioles on Wednesday in The Bronx.

“When you’re off mechanically, it sucks,’’ Rizzo said. “You fight for it and it comes back in a swing.

“You want to help the team win, and when you don’t, it’s frustrating.”

Manager Aaron Boone said he believed the slugger’s lack of power stemmed from his neck injury earlier in the season, but Rizzo disagreed.

“I don’t think there’s anything residual [from the injury],” Rizzo said. “I’m just not hitting to my standard and it’s frustrating, personally, but this is part of being a baseball player.

“When things get tough, it shows your character of who you are.”

The Yankees aren’t getting their typical production from sluggers with Aaron Judge injured and Giancarlo Stanton slumping — although Josh Donaldson homered again Wednesday.

Boone said they need more from Rizzo.

“He hasn’t hit the ball out of the ballpark and that’s part of his game,’’ Boone said. “I feel he’s gained a little traction and is getting on base. … but we’ve got to get him there.

“He’s a huge presence in the lineup and we’ve got to get him back to the wrecking ball he can be in the middle.”

Anthony Volpe homered again Wednesday and is 15-for-30 with four extra-base hits in his past eight games.

Boone said he hasn’t noticed anything different about the young shortstop amid the success, compared to his well-chronicled struggles earlier this season.

That constancy is among the reasons the Yankees stuck with the rookie.

“The consistency of the person,’’ Boone said of what gave him confidence Volpe would emerge from his slump.

It’s what the Yankees envisioned when they named Volpe the starter out of spring training.

“One of the things we were banking on when making the decision was that we were confident in his talent and ability to play the game at a high level, but we also felt he was equipped to deal with whatever came down,’’ Boone said.

“It’s been fun to watch him make adjustments on the fly, which you’ve got to do. He’s done a really good job the last few weeks.”

DJ LeMahieu is still trying to find his swing.

“He’s been improving,’’ Boone said.

The results haven’t been there, as LeMahieu’s numbers dipped to a season-low .219 average and .645 OPS after he went 0-for-3 with a walk Wednesday.

Boone said he believes LeMahieu has been the victim of some particularly tough matchups against right-handed pitchers.

The team is also trying to “identify some things [in his swing] that are slightly mechanical,’’ Boone said.

LeMahieu was dropped back to batting sixth after he had hit leadoff for much of the previous week.

With his walks and hits down, LeMahieu’s ability to get on base, which has been a consistent strong point during his time with the Yankees, has been severely impacted.

His .287 on-base percentage is by far the worst of his career.

Harrison Bader was out of the starting lineup after he was hit by a pitch on his right hand Tuesday, though he finished that game. Boone said the center fielder was “sore,” but that his hand was “fine.”

Boone added he was looking to get Bader a day off during the homestand and the hit by pitch made the decision easier.

After first cooling off at the plate, then fouling a ball off a toe recently, Billy McKinney was available only in an “emergency,” Boone said.

McKinney, who had helped the Yankees get some surprising production from the outfield for much of June, pinch-hit for Kyle Higashioka in the eighth inning, getting an infield single to snap an 0-for-14 skid.

Another lefty-hitting outfielder who had gotten valuable at-bats in the injury-plagued Yankees outfield, Willie Calhoun, has been doing more baseball activities in recent days after being sidelined since June 22 with a strained left quad.

Boone said there was no timeline for a return for Calhoun, noting that it wouldn’t be until after the All-Star break.