MINNEAPOLIS – Twenty times this season, the Yankees have failed to score more than three runs. They’ve lost each game.

That’s just another sign of the struggles this proud, experienced, and expensive team is enduring. Carlos Silva pitched seven strong innings, Kevin Brown was knocked out during a five-run sixth, and the Twins beat the Yankees 9-3 yesterday.

“I don’t think anybody ever walks out on the field and thinks, ‘Maybe I’ll walk out and lose,'” Brown said. “That’s not your plan.”

The Yankees, playing without an ill Derek Jeter, finished a forgettable week by losing for the seventh time in eight games. Their 20-game drought when scoring three runs or less is the longest such streak in the majors.

The hallmark of all those World Series titles was strong starting pitching, but that strength is beginning to become a weakness. New York’s rotation has an ERA of 4.81, 11th in the AL.

“We know what our job is,” Joe Torre said. “We just have to go out and be more consistent with our positive stuff.”

Brown (4-6), who won four starts in a row until a loss at Kansas City earlier this week, was given a 2-0 lead on a home run by rookie Robinson Cano and an RBI single by Jason Giambi.

But Brown struggled with his control in the sixth, hitting two batters to fuel the Twins’ rally. After Torii Hunter was plunked with one-out, Jacque Jones singled Hunter to third, and Matthew LeCroy drove him in with a double off Gary Sheffield’s glove. After an intentional walk to Michael Cuddyer, Brown hit Mike Redmond to force in Jones and tie it at 2. Rookie Luis Rodriguez laced a single to right to put Minnesota in front, and Tanyon Sturtze relieved Brown.

On the first pitch, Michael Ryan bunted on his own with the bases loaded. Cuddyer raced home and slid in safely, and Brent Abernathy followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2.

The Twins batted around in the inning. Catcher Jorge Posada said Brown’s stuff was the best he had seen this year, but the 40-year-old right-hander – whose ERA rose to 5.43 – was not pleased.

“It was a day, from square one, where not everything was clicking,” Brown said. “I had to work hard to try and stay in there. I just didn’t get it done.”

Silva (4-3) gave up seven hits and two runs while striking out one without a walk. He has issued only three free passes in 74 innings this year.

Hideki Matsui hit an RBI single off J.C. Romero in the eighth to cut the lead to two, but Jesse Crain came in and retired the next three. Ryan, who tied a career high with three hits, added an RBI single off Paul Quantrill in the eighth. Hunter drove in a run with an infield single, and Jones hit a two-run single to make it 9-3.

“We just need to keep playing and find a way,” Posada said. “Keep looking forward and have fun doing it. We have a lot of talent. We just have to keep believing in ourselves.”