NEW YORK -- Before Monday’s game at Yankee Stadium, the talk was about the American League MVP race between Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge. Both are having seasons to remember, with Witt trying to reach 30 homers and 30 stolen bases for the second time in his career, while Judge is looking to win the AL triple crown.

By the time the game ended, the talk was about Royals reliever James McArthur, who blew a one-run lead that turned into a 10-4 loss to New York. Kansas City remained in possession of the second AL Wild Card spot, 2 1/2 games ahead of the Twins.

Prior to Monday, Kansas City’s bullpen had been steady for almost a week. The last time a Royals reliever gave up a run was last Tuesday against the Guardians, holding opponents scoreless for 11 straight innings. That changed in the seventh inning Monday.

The Royals had a 4-3 lead going into the bottom of the seventh. Left-hander Sam Long, who had worked a clean sixth inning, started the frame by getting Alex Verdugo to pop up to Witt at shortstop.

Long was then taken out of the game in favor of McArthur, who faced the top of the order -- Gleyber Torres, Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Austin Wells -- and couldn’t record an out. Wells highlighted the scoring with a three-run homer that secured the game for New York.

“Tough four hitters right there,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “It came down to not getting enough swings and misses. He was able to get guys to two strikes, but he couldn’t put them away. Those are good hitters.

“McArthur came in to face the top of the order. We know that is a big spot in the game. We felt really good about him there. It was just one of those nights he wasn’t able to put them away.”

Said McArthur: “I left a fastball down to Wells there. He put a pretty good swing on it. I have to execute a better pitch there.”

It looked like catcher Salvador Perez -- the Royals' nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award -- was going to be the hitting hero, going 4-for-4 and driving in three of the four runs against Yankees left-hander Carlos Rodón.

“Salvy is a huge part of what we are doing,” Quatraro said.

In the first inning, Kansas City took advantage of fielding miscues by third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Wells behind the plate as the Royals scored the first run of the game on an RBI single by Perez.

Two innings later, Perez hit a solo homer to give Kansas City a 2-0 lead. But the Yankees would come back in the fourth and take a 3-2 lead. Verdugo highlighted the scoring with a two-run homer off Brady Singer.

But Perez drove in the tying run in the fifth inning. Witt scored all the way from first after Perez's pop fly to shallow right was misplayed by Gleyber Torres to tie the score at 3.

“I’m just trying to do my job. I hit the ball hard. Trying not to chase,” Perez said. “It doesn’t matter. It only counts as half of the game. So we win together, we lose together.”

Kansas City then took a 4-3 lead an inning later when Hunter Renfroe homered over the left-field wall.

But it was Kansas City’s bullpen that turned the game upside down, allowing a combined seven runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Right-hander Chris Stratton was the other Royals reliever who struggled, allowing three runs in the eighth -- one on a double-play ball off the bat of Judge.

“The Yankees made soft contact on [Stratton],” Quatraro said. “[We] get the double play [but we] couldn’t quite finish off the inning.”