NEW YORK -- The Yankees held a team meeting after Friday’s series-opening loss to the Red Sox, one which spurred this evaluation from manager Aaron Boone concerning the club’s collective mindset: “It’s not fun going through this, but I feel like we’re OK, and I do feel the turnaround is coming.”

That reversal, if one is en route, may arrive too late to make a difference. Gerrit Cole was hurt by the bottom of Boston's order, surrendering a Luis Urías grand slam and a two-run Connor Wong homer, as the Bombers dropped their seventh consecutive game with an 8-1 loss on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

“I don’t recall experiencing anything like this before in my career,” Cole said. “How you handle adversity and how you get through it is really ultimately how you get judged.”

The seven-game slide ties the Yanks’ longest during Boone’s managerial tenure, matching losing streaks in August 2020 and September ‘21. At 60-63, this is the latest in the season that the Yankees have been three games under .500 since Aug. 30, 1995 (56-59).

“We’re sick animals, in a lot of ways,” Boone said. “It’s the grind of the sport. We’ve got to come ready to go tomorrow and fight our way through this. Through this, you find out about people. You get your character revealed. You’ve got to keep showing up.”

A presumed front-runner for the American League’s Cy Young Award, Cole could not bolster his case, permitting six runs and seven hits in four innings.

The right-hander’s ERA swelled from 2.76 to 3.03, with Urías reaching the left-field bullpen for a second-inning grand slam and Wong clearing the right-field wall with a homer in the fourth.

“Obviously, not my best stuff today,” Cole said. “I put a lot of well-located pitches and paired a lot of good pitches together. I’m a little bit confused on why the level of execution on their side is so high. We funneled four or five balls into the down-and-away quadrant, and it's not like we lived there all day. We pitched several of those guys up and in quite often.

“But that’s baseball. For whatever reason, they were extra-focused and able to bring out their best bullets today. Not only did they capitalize on poor pitches, but they capitalized on really, really good pitches.”

Cole is 4-5 with a 5.86 ERA (41 earned runs/63 innings) in 11 starts against the Red Sox since the beginning of the 2021 season, including a start in that year’s AL Wild Card Game.

Kutter Crawford handcuffed the Yankees over six strong innings. The Boston righty did not permit a hit until Aaron Judge launched his 24th home run of the season and his second in as many days, a blast to left field with one out in the sixth inning.

“We just couldn’t get anything going early, really,” Judge said. “They got the early lead and it felt like we just got a little passive there for quite a few innings.”

Indeed, runs have been scarce for the Yanks, who have been outscored 45-15 over their seven-game skid. Isiah Kiner-Falefa provided a window into their desperation when he attempted a second-inning bunt with one out and slow-footed Giancarlo Stanton at first base, already down by four runs.

Kiner-Falefa popped the bunt to catcher Wong, who doubled off Stanton. Boone said that he considered it a “good play,” saying that Kiner-Falefa was “bunting for a hit there” and that third baseman Rafael Devers was playing back (Devers was actually at the lip of the infield grass).

Later, Kiner-Falefa revealed that the Yankees’ scouting report claimed that Crawford has issues throwing to bases this season (he’s committed two errors, both coming on April 17 vs. the Angels). Kiner-Falefa hoped to induce a miscue, noting that Anthony Volpe also flashed bunt on Crawford later in the game.

“I was just trying to get the ball in his hands, maybe make a bad throw right there and build something,” Kiner-Falefa said. “It kind of backfired, but I’m OK with it, just going off his previous issues. I was trying to expose that.”

The Yankees are 6-15 since Judge returned from the injured list on July 28, though last year’s AL MVP has posted a .929 OPS over that span.

“What’s great about Major League Baseball is, you get a chance to show up here tomorrow at the same time and change the script,” Judge said.