DENVER — The longest home run drought of Anthony Rizzo’s career continues.
After he had just a single in four at-bats Saturday night in the Yankees’ 6-3 win over the Rockies at Coors Field, often a breeding ground for the long ball thanks to the high altitude, Rizzo has not homered since May 20 — a stretch of 40 games.
He has gone 164 plate appearances during that stretch without leaving the yard, a streak that was hard to fathom from the Yankees’ veteran first baseman.
“Baseball, it’s hard, even for guys that are really good,” manager Aaron Boone said before the game Saturday.
Rizzo had a stretch of 46 games without a home run from 2011 (his rookie season) to 2012, but that only spanned 153 plate appearances.
This season, Rizzo hit 11 home runs in his first 46 games, through May 20.
Eight days later, he collided with Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres on a pickoff at first base, which knocked him out for three games with a stiff neck.
Boone said on Saturday that Rizzo’s neck is fine and that the 33-year-old was “in as good a spot, physically, probably as he’s been at any time since we’ve had him.”
Since he sat out those three games with the neck issue, though, Rizzo entered Saturday batting just .171 with a .514 OPS in 32 games.
His lack of production and thump have been felt even harder because the Yankees have been missing Aaron Judge for almost all of that stretch.
“I feel like right when he came back from the neck, he had two weeks where he really struggled, where he wasn’t swinging very good,” Boone said. “I do feel like the last three weeks or so, he’s been better, where he’s getting his hits a little bit, he’s getting on base a little bit.
“But it’s not easy to hit the ball out of the ballpark or hit for power. It could be even harder when you go chasing. So the important thing is focus on the good at-bats and that power will come.”