The Yankees’ 5-2 loss to the Cubs on Saturday afternoon, which ended their five-game winning streak, was the least of the club’s worries.

Max Fried, their unquestioned ace — and one of the best pitchers in baseball — left the game at the Stadium after three erratic innings with a blister on his left index finger.

Afterward, Fried said it was “too soon” to know if this blister issue is severe enough to land him on the injured list, as the problem has four previous times in his career.

“The good thing is that we have the [All-Star] break to try and do as much as we can to get it resolved,” Fried said. “As far as timelines, I don’t know exactly how this one is going to shake out. A lot of times you just have to see how it starts healing over the next couple of days.”

Fried, whose command was off from the start, allowed four runs (three earned), six hits and three walks before departing. Of his 73 pitches, just 39 were strikes.

The lefthander said that the blister popped up on his second-to-last pitch to the final batter he faced, Jon Berti, who eventually grounded out to end the third.

“It was definitely uncomfortable enough to the point where I didn’t want to risk [it],” said Fried, who entered Saturday 11-2 with a 2.27 ERA in 19 starts (the Yankees were 14-5 in those games). “So the next couple of days are going to be big in evaluating how long I need.”

The last time Fried spent time on the IL with a blister was in 2023 with Atlanta. The first time was in 2018.

“Each case is its own thing,” Fried said of being able to predict any kind of a time frame.

He smiled when asked about trying pickle brine or other home remedies, used over the years to deal with blisters.

“I’ve tried a little bit of everything,” Fried said. “Every [old] wives’ tale, every piece of equipment that has been available. I’m willing to try anything to try and just speed it up and keep it away.”

Fried’s counterpart Saturday, Cubs lefthander and fellow All-Star Matthew Boyd, had no issues of any kind. Boyd limited a Yankees offense, which had scored 42 runs in its previous five games and erupted for 11 runs Friday night, to just four hits in eight scoreless innings.

Aaron Judge’s two-run homer in the ninth off righthander Brad Keller made it 5-2. His 35th homer of the season was also the 350th of his career. Judge became the fastest player in league history to reach the milestone, doing so in his 1,088th game, surpassing Mark McGwire (1,280 games).

Judge (3-for-4), who also flied out to the wall in left-center in the first, had two doubles and is hitting .358 with a 1.204 OPS in 95 games this season.

“I don’t know what to say about it because I just think he’s playing in a different league,” Aaron Boone said.

Boyd (10-3, 2.34 ERA) retired the first 11 Yankees he faced before Judge’s two-out double in the fourth. Giancarlo Stanton struck out swinging at a curveball to strand Judge, and the Yankees (53-42) did not put another runner in scoring position until one out in the seventh when Judge doubled again.

The NL Central-leading Cubs (56-39) got to Fried in what was a laborious 28-pitch first inning.

Leadoff man Nico Hoerner rifled Fried’s third pitch into the gap in left-center for a triple. Rightfielder Kyle Tucker, whom the Yankees tried to trade for in the offseason from Houston before the Cubs got him, grounded to first to bring in Hoerner to make it 1-0.

Fried stranded two runners in the second but allowed three runs (two earned) in a 29-pitch third. He did not use the blister as an alibi.

“I was bad,” Fried said. “I just wasn’t good.”

Just how bad this blister situation actually is will have the Yankees holding their breath as they head into the break.

“You hope nothing serious is going on,” Judge said. “He’s been our ace all year, our Cy Young guy. He’s been the one that, whenever we’re in trouble or need a big outing, he’s been the guy who’s stepped up for us all season long.

“You get a little concerned when a guy like that comes out, but I don’t think it’s anything crazy and he’ll be ready to go for the second half.”