Gleyber Torres settling into Yankees’ leadoff spot

NEW YORK — The Yankees were stymied by Royals Cy Young candidate Seth Lugo on Tuesday, setting up a rubber game in Wednesday’s series finale at Yankee Stadium.

New York fell, 5-0, to Kansas City in the second game of the matchup between American League playoff contenders. A day after scoring 10 runs in their series-opening win, the Yankees were held scoreless by Lugo on just three hits over seven innings — two singles by Gleyber Torres and one by Austin Wells.

With the Orioles beating the Red Sox in Boston, the Yankees’ lead in the American League East shrank back to a half-game with 17 games to play in the regular season. The Yankees are 83-62, the Orioles are 83-63 — and the Royals are just behind in the AL Wild Card race at 80-66.

Torres, who continues to excel in the leadoff spot for New York, was the only Yankee to muster much offense against Lugo. He flared a leadoff single to center field in the first inning, and another just over Bobby Witt Jr.’s head at shortstop in the sixth.

Since the Bronx Bombers moved Torres to the top of the order nearly a month ago, Torres is batting .326 (30-for-92) with a .417 on-base percentage over 23 games.

Torres, who finished 2-for-4, was also the only Yankees starter not to strike out against Lugo. The Royals’ right-hander struck out 10 Yankees, including Aaron Judge twice, as the Yankees’ MVP candidate saw his season-long home run drought reach 14 games.

Marcus Stroman went 5 1/3 innings for New York, allowing three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts.