Slumping bats need to heat up ... quickly

ARLINGTON, Texas — Was it a twogame blip thanks to Charlie Morton’s curveball and the endless parade of Rays relievers used in favorable matchups?

Or is it something more serious concerning the Yankees hitters, as they head into the ALDS, which starts a week from Friday in The Bronx, with the Twins the likely opponent in the best-of-five series?

In losses to the Rays on Tuesday and Wednesday at Tropicana Field, the Yankees scored one run in 21 innings and six of their eight hits were singles.

A lot of that had to do with Morton, who didn’t allow a hit until DJ LeMahieu’s twoout single in sixth inning of a 4-0 loss Wednesday night and struck out nine with a curveball the Yankees often chased.

While slumps by to Didi Gregorius, Gio Urshela and Luke Voit continued, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gleyber Torres went a combined 2-for-25 (.080) with 15 strikeouts and one walk in the two games.

“The first thing that jumped at me, and I know it was Tampa’s pitching, was that they have looked like two different teams, home and away lately,’’ said a scout from a team who has been following the Yankees. “Before Tampa they played the Angels and Toronto [at home] and that had a lot to do with it, but away from Yankee Stadium you can’t swing out of your [backside] and hit the ball over the rightfield fence like at Yankee Stadium.’’

That counters what the Yankees have done at home versus the road this year. In 78 road games they are hitting .271 with 156 homers. At home they batted .263 and hit 143 homers. Of course the Yankees slugged 43 homers at Baltimore’s Camden Yards, 19 at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, 12 at Tropicana Field and 11 at Fenway Park to skew the road numbers a bit.

Getting catcher Gary Sanchez and DH/ first baseman Edwin Encarnacion back this weekend should help the lineup. Neither has played since Sept. 12.

Another scout warned that not every right-hander has Morton’s curveball and that the Yankees’ lineup feasts on mistakes.

“They are good enough hitters, especially Stanton and Judge, if you don’t execute pitches they hit the ball a long way,’’ the scout said. “They are a good fastball hitting team.’’

With three games remaining against the Rangers at Globe Life Park, which is closing for good on Sunday, the Yankees can use the weekend to see if Gregorius and Urshela can climb out of their slumps.

Urshela, who didn’t face Morton on Wednesday after getting hit on the left hand Tuesday night, is hitless in his last 18 at-bats. Aaron Boone said on Wednesday he expected Urshela to return to the lineup Friday night against the Rangers.

In Gregorius’ past 24 games (23 starts) he is hitting .178 (16-for-90) with 17 strikeouts and a .645 OPS. In a smaller sample the slick-fielding shortstop is hitting .147 (5-for-34) with a .413 OPS.

Voit, who could be headed for offseason hernia surgery, is batting .222 (16-for-72) with two homers, eight RBIs and a .716 batting average.

“Last year he was new and tried to hit everything up the middle and to rightcenter,’’ a scout said of Voit. “This year he is trying to ambush every fastball.’’

Judge, Stanton and Torres could have been tamed by Morton and a bevy of Rays relievers, which is irrelevant unless the Yankees and Rays meet in the ALCS with a trip to the World Series on the line.

As for Urshela, Gregorius and Voit, they would greatly help the Yankees’ chances of advancing beyond the ALDS by getting their strokes right in the final three games.