NEW YORK — The outcome of the game never seemed to be in question after the first inning, not when the Twins fell behind by four runs to a team that always seems to have their number.

The bigger question, instead, was how long Yankees starter Carlos Rodón could carry his bid for perfection. The answer was into the sixth inning, at which point Carlos Santana finally broke through, getting the Twins on the board with a solo home run.

By that point, though, the Twins were trailing by seven runs on their way to a 9-5 loss to New York on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, their fifth in as many games to the Yankees this season.

“Unpleasant,” manager Rocco Baldelli said, describing the season series simply. “ … They’ve outplayed us. We have not played very well, either. And it’s five games now and we need to do better. We need to do a lot better.”

After getting a gift ball call earlier in the at-bat on a pitch that appeared to be well within the strike zone, leadoff hitter Anthony Volpe got the Yankees going with a single at 101 miles per hour off the bat against Chris Paddack, the beginning of a first inning in which the Yankees (44-19) scored four runs.

Three of those runs scored with a pair of outs, including two on a Gleyber Torres double that ticked off a diving Manuel Margot’s glove in right field.

While Paddack recovered in the middle of the innings, at one point sending down 10 straight batters, a walk to D.J. LeMahieu in the fifth inning snapped that streak and spelled the beginning of the end of his night.

Paddack left his start with the bases loaded, no outs and former Most Valuable Player Aaron Judge coming to the plate, a mess that reliever Diego Castillo couldn’t clean up.

“It’s a tough one to swallow,” Paddack said of his night.

Judge smacked a triple, clearing the bases and making a game that had already felt out of reach more lopsided. The superstar drove in five of the Yankees’ runs, including another in the sixth when he drew a bases-loaded walk in an inning in which Twins (33-28) pitchers walked four.

While Paddack was unable to make it through five, his teammates were stifled by Rodón, who also threw six scoreless frames against the Twins last month.

The Yankees’ starter struck out nine and was perfect for 5 1/3 innings before the Twins finally broke through in his final inning of work.

“He threw the ball really well and we could have done some things to combat it but we weren’t as dialed on those things as we needed to be,” Baldelli said.

And while the Twins tacked on runs in the later innings — including one on a birthday home run from Royce Lewis, which made him the first player in club history to homer in his first three games of the season — it was not nearly enough to make a true dent in the Yankees’ lead.

“I very much so respect this team and them being the best team in the league right now,” Lewis said. “You want to showcase a little better than we have with the 0-2 start.”

Fans watch as a ball hit by New York Yankees’ Gleyber Torres gets away from Minnesota Twins outfielder Manuel Margot for an RBI ground-rule double during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)