CHICAGO — The way the Yankees have been hitting — or not hitting — lately, their pitchers have had to be just about perfect.

Their starters have done that.

Their bullpen has not.

So on another night when they got a strong start from Max Fried, but very little from their lineup, the Yankees asked their bullpen to walk a tightrope.

It could not deliver, faltering in a 5-2 loss to the Cubs on Saturday night at windy Wrigley Field.

After Spencer Jones swatted a solo home run to give the Yankees (62-49) a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh, they wasted a chance to add on, which immediately cost them in the bottom of the frame when the Cubs (63-48) mounted a three-run rally against Fernando Cruz and Brent Headrick.

It was as if the Yankees lineup was screaming for help once again, just two days before the trade deadline, as it continued to flounder without Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton.

It has scored just five runs over its last three games and 13 over its last five — scoring three runs or fewer in 11 of its 15 games since the All-Star break — leaving them 3 ¹/₂ games back of the Rays for the division.

“It’s a tough moment for us,” said Jasson Domínguez, who went 1-for-4 with a double but misplayed a ball in the right field corner that allowed the go-ahead run to score in the seventh. “We’ve been grinding, trying to find a way every day.”

The Yankees received an outstanding turn through the rotation, as their last five starters combined to give up just two runs across 31 ¹/₃ innings, scattering 15 hits and seven walks while striking out 33.

Incredibly, though, the Yankees only managed to turn that dominant pitching into two wins.

“It’s baseball,” said Fried, who turned in 5 ¹/₃ innings of one-run ball. “There are going to be times where guys are throwing really well and maybe the bats aren’t putting up as many runs as we need. But there’s also times where we’re going to put up five, six, seven, eight, nine runs, and then we’re giving up some too.

“It’s just about being a really good baseball team and picking each other up and knowing that everyone’s doing everything they can to win today’s baseball game. Whatever you have that day, you got to make the most of and try to figure out how to scratch and get that one.”

Against former Mets lefty David Peterson — who entered the night with a 5.80 ERA — and three Cubs relievers, the Yankees tallied eight hits and two walks while stranding seven men on base.

Two of them came in the top of the seventh with two outs after Jones had put them ahead 2-1 with his second left-on-left home run in as many days.

José Caballero and pinch hitter Trent Grisham drew back-to-back walks against righty Trent Thornton, at which point manager Aaron Boone considered pinch hitting Ben Rice but stuck with Paul Goldschmidt, who popped out in foul territory to end the rally.

“Felt like I had [Rice] in my pocket there for the next hitter [Amed Rosario] if I needed it,” said Boone, who ended up using Rice as a pinch hitter in the eighth, when he grounded out with a runner on first. “We had the lead. So trusting our pen and wanting the defense in there. So I did consider it. Maybe with less than two outs, maybe more inclined to do it. I did consider, but decided not to.”

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Nico Hoerner led off the bottom of the seventh by crushing a Cruz splitter down the left field line for a home run that tied the game at two.

Cruz later issued a two-out walk to pinch hitter Pedro Ramírez, leading Boone to bring Headrick into the game.

The lefty had stranded all 15 of his inherited runners over his last 32 games before Saturday, but could not keep that streak alive.

Pete Crow-Armstrong ripped a line drive down the right field line that bounced off the side wall and got past Domínguez, ensuring Ramírez could score all the way from first for the 3-2 lead.

Crow-Armstrong, who raced around for the triple, then came in on Seiya Suzuki’s single up the middle to make it 4-2.

“We were set up to do it, we just couldn’t finish it off,” Boone said. “We don’t have a lot of margin for error when you’re not putting a lot of points on the board. We put some traffic out there, we probably had 10-plus base-runners tonight, so those are little signs hopefully for the offense getting things going a little bit. But obviously we need to keep doing a little bit more.”