NEW YORK — As the New York Yankees continued to get their bats on just about everything that Shohei Ohtani threw, Joe Maddon figured that something was wrong.

After Ohtani gave up four runs in the Angels’ 6-1 loss to the Yankees in the first game of a doubleheader on Thursday, stretching their losing streak to seven games, Maddon suggested that the Yankees had picked up something from Ohtani that clued them in to what pitches were coming.

He was careful to say he didn’t think they were doing anything illegal. No banging trash cans.

“They’re really good at reading pitchers,” Maddon said. “They’re very good at it… I’m not accusing anybody of anything except that they’re good at it. If you’re able to acquire things through natural means, I’m all into it. I think it’s great.”

Pitchers sometimes tip their pitches by the way they hold their glove or hands. Even the smallest change in a pitcher’s delivery can be detected by an opponent and exploited.

“There are things that pitchers do that other teams pick up,” Maddon said. “If you have a group of guys that are good at that, they can gain an advantage. We have to be more vigilant.”

When Ohtani was asked if he believed he was tipping his pitches, he said, through his interpreter: “I’m not sure. You’d probably have to ask them.”

Ohtani’s primary issue Thursday was an inability to miss the Yankees’ bats.

Matt Carpenter led off the game with an 11-pitch at-bat, capped by yanking a homer just inside the right field pole. Anthony Rizzo later worked a 10-pitch at-bat before striking out.

All told, Ohtani induced just three whiffs in 41 Yankees swings, which was the second-lowest whiff percentage of his career.

Gleyber Torres hit a solo homer in the first and Aaron Judge blasted a homer in the third. The three homers equaled the career high allowed by Ohtani.

Maddon pulled him after he gave up a pair of singles to start the fourth, and one of those runners came home.

It was the first time in Ohtani’s career that he’d allowed at least four runs in consecutive games. After he gave up five runs in six innings in his previous start, he said he’d pitched through some back tightness. Ohtani said that was not a problem this time.

“Obviously they have a great lineup and if I don’t make my pitches, they are going to hit the ball hard,” Ohtani said. “That’s what happened.”

The Angels had a chance to hang in the game early, but they left the bases loaded in the second inning and they left two on in the third. After that, the Angels did not have multiple runners on in any inning against Yankees lefty Nestor Cortes, who cut his ERA to 1.50 with seven scoreless innings.

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The moment that symbolized the kind of afternoon it was for the Angels came in the bottom of the fifth.

With a runner at first and one out, Jose Trevino hit a grounder toward Luis Rengifo, who was in position to start an inning-ending double play. But the ball hit umpire Chris Guccione, deflecting away for a hit. The Yankees then scored another run.

There was a 1-hour, 28-minute rain delay before the top of the ninth inning, and then the Angels went down in six minutes to extend their losing streak. The Angels had not lost as many as seven in a row since an eight-game skid in August 2019.

“I hate to quote (Winston) Churchill, but when you’re going through hell, you just keep on going,” Maddon said. “That’s what you’ve got to do. You can’t cry. You can’t stop. You can’t complain. Don’t make excuses. You just play the next game. And eventually we’ll come out the other side. It’s very difficult. It’s no fun. But at some point, we’ll gain traction again. We’ve just got to keep trying.”