NEW YORK — The Yankees failed to finish the first half with a bang.

In their final game before the All-Star break, the Yankees managed only two hits and three baserunners in a 4-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Sunday afternoon in the Bronx.

The Yankees (53-43) had few answers for crafty Cubs ace Shota Imanaga, who held them to one run over seven stellar innings.

The deceptive left-hander kept the Yankees off balance with a six-pitch mix that included a splitter he used to finish off two strikeouts of Aaron Judge.

Following a solo home run by Giancarlo Stanton and a walk to Jazz Chisholm Jr. to begin the bottom of the second, Imanaga retired 11 batters in a row and 16 of his final 17.

Austin Wells’ single to lead off the sixth was the Yankees’ lone hit after the second inning. Wells was quickly erased when Paul Goldschmidt grounded into an inning-ending double play.

The Yankees did not take a single at-bat with a runner in scoring position and sent only one batter above the minimum to the plate.

The offensive issues contributed to a hard-luck loss for rookie Yankees starter Will Warren, who surrendered a home run to the game’s first batter, Michael Busch, but was otherwise sharp.

The game was tied, 1-1, when Carson Kelly led off the sixth with a double against Warren that left fielder Jasson Domínguez was unable to get to.

Two batters later, Dansby Swanson slugged a go-ahead two-run home run against reliever Ian Hamilton that proved to be the game-winner.

Warren was charged with two runs in 5 1/3 innings and fell to 6-5. He lowered his season ERA to 4.63.

Chicago tacked on another run against reliever Tim Hill in the seventh when Seiya Suzuki smacked a two-out double, then scored from second base on an infield single by Pete Crow-Armstrong.

After erupting for an 11-0 win in Friday night’s opener, the Yankees totaled only three runs in their final two games against the Cubs, losing both and the series.

Sunday’s defeat capped a roller-coaster first half in which the Yankees jumped out to a 42-25 record, only to follow with a 6-16 skid that included two separate six-game losing streaks.

The second of those six-game slides came to an end last Sunday, and the Yankees finished the first half with a 4-2 homestand against the Seattle Mariners and Cubs.

The Yankees owned at least a share of first place in the American League East from April 14 through July 2, but their summer swoon pushed them into second place behind the red-hot Toronto Blue Jays. Toronto entered Sunday with a two-game lead in the division.

Asked before Sunday’s game to assess his team’s first half, manager Aaron Boone replied, “Incomplete.”

“There’s been a lot of good,” Boone said. “There’s obviously been two weeks where we really struggled, but we set out in spring training and the start of the year to get back to the playoffs and go chase after a world title. All those hopes and dreams are right there and still exist for us.”

The Yankees are sending four All-Stars to Atlanta, including Judge, who leads the majors with a .355 average and 1.195 OPS to go with 35 home runs and 81 RBI.

Chisholm (17 home runs) is an infield reserve and is also set to compete in Monday night’s Home Run Derby.

Max Fried (11-3, 2.43 ERA) had opted not to pitch in the All-Star Game even before he left Saturday’s start with a blister. He was replaced on the American League roster by teammate Carlos Rodón (10-6, 3.08 ERA).

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