Yankees still sinking

NEW YORK – The Yankees have had trouble consistently putting runs on the scoreboard with their best people in the lineup. Now they were being asked to do it without two of their top guys.

Mark Teixeira sat out Wednesday's game against Tampa Bay at Yankee Stadium after having his left knee drained the night before and Jacoby Ellsbury needed a day off because he was "a little bit sore all over," according to Joe Girardi. Both are expected back Thursday night in Minnesota in the opener of an 11-game trip.

The homestand ended badly without them. The last-place Rays won 6-3 to sweep the three-game series, their season-high fifth straight win.

So the Yankees are a losing team for the first time since April 11, dropping to 41-42 after a season-high fifth straight loss and ninth in the last 11 games. They went 6-9 in a stretch of 15 straight against AL East teams and are in third, 4½ back of the first-place Blue Jays.

"The talent is in that room," Girardi said. "We just need to play better. It's a lot of different phases."

The Yankees are adding some talent that wasn't in the room on Wednesday. A source confirmed that the team is calling up INF/OF Zelous Wheeler to give the team some more punch. He will be joining the team in Minnesota.

Here's the most glaring problem in their latest loss: The bats. The Yankees had 10 hits but left nine on base, going 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position.

"Obviously offense has been an issue," hitting coach Kevin Long said. "It's been an issue all season. We've got to turn it around somehow."

Two struggling Yankees did make contributions. Carlos Beltran had two singles and Brian McCann eliminated a toe tap from his mechanics and delivered two hits, including a solo homer for a 2-1 lead in the third off winner Jake Odorizzi (4-7).

"It's tough to get sweeps in New York," Odorizzi said. "I didn't want to be the guy to ruin it for us."

He didn't.

This was a 3-3 game when Logan Forsythe singled off Vidal Nuno (2-5) to start the sixth for the Rays (38-49). Girardi pulled Nuno and Shawn Kelley immediately served up a long two-run homer to left-center by Sean Rodriguez.

"Every year teams go through stretches where they struggle," Derek Jeter said. "… For us as players, we've got just to stay positive."

Tanaka's time to win again? Masahiro Tanaka only knew from winning. Now he only knows from losing.

The Yankees' sure-to-be-an-All-Star, 11-3 rookie righty had gone a ridiculous 39-1 in a 40-decision stretch of regular-season greatness dating to 2012 in Japan. But despite throwing quality starts, he's on a two-game losing streak heading into Thursday night's outing. Tanaka, though, is not here to talk about the past.

"If you're playing the game of baseball, you're going to lose two consecutive games …" Tanaka said through an interpreter. "So what is important right now is not the fact of looking back at those two losses but looking ahead and trying to win the next outing."

Twitter: @bheyman99