NEW YORK -- Baseball fans at Yankee Stadium saw firsthand why Royals right-hander Seth Lugo is considered among the front-runners for the American League Cy Young Award. He was dealing on Tuesday, helping the Royals blank the Yankees, 5-0.

Kansas City remained in possession of the second AL Wild Card spot, 2 1/2 games ahead of the Twins. The Royals are also 3 1/2 games behind Cleveland in the AL Central, while the Yankees' lead atop the AL East shrank to a half-game over Baltimore.

According to catcher Freddy Fermin, Lugo is known to his teammates as the “man of many pitches.” On Tuesday, Lugo threw nine offerings, led by the cutter (23%), curveball (16%) and four-seam fastball (14%).

None of the Yankees -- not even superstars Aaron Judge and Juan Soto -- could put the barrel on the ball when facing Lugo. He started the game by allowing a bloop single to Gleyber Torres, then retired the next 17 batters before allowing a second single to Torres in the sixth inning with two outs.

"Honestly with that lineup, you never know,” Lugo said. “It can change. It was a two-, three-run game a lot of the [time]. A couple of bad pitches and you know it's over. That lineup is relentless, so you don't ever really get comfortable."

Lugo pitched seven innings on 105 pitches (77 strikes), allowing three hits and striking out 10 batters. It marked the fourth time this season he has reached double-digit figures in that category.

“He always has stuff. He has movement. He has the pitches to keep them off balance, but I’m looking forward to going back to watching that [game] because he must have been on the corners all night,” said Royals manager Matt Quatraro. “He got the breaking ball going to get the swing and miss. He elevated when he needed to. That was a pitching clinic.”

Even Yankees manager Aaron Boone was impressed by what he saw from Lugo.

“That was probably as good a performance [as there's been] against us this year,” Boone said. “We were silent. I think he was ahead in the count, it looked like he was really dotting -- location-wise -- with a big mix. It's two fastballs, a cutter, slider, curveball [and] changeup -- and varying the speeds on all of those [pitches].”

Lugo is seven innings away from reaching the 200-IP plateau for the first time in his career. It seems hard to believe that the Mets thought he was better suited as a reliever just two seasons ago. Remember that in 2022 -- his last year with New York -- the Mets had a rotation that included Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco and Taijuan Walker. Lugo, who pitched in 275 games (38 starts) for the Mets from 2016-22, made it known to New York that he wanted to start. He left as a free agent in 2023.

Lugo said he doesn’t hold any bitterness toward the Mets for not letting him pitch every fifth day.

“I can’t fault them. I appreciate all of the opportunities they have given me. It is what it is. We are here now,” he said.

Lugo acknowledged that it was extra motivation to pitch in New York on Tuesday as he closes in on the 200-inning milestone.

"That's huge, to make every start and pitch deep into games consistently,” Lugo said. “I think that's really important for a starter to do. It's a good feeling being able to prove myself and do that."

Kansas City was able to get to Yankees right-hander Marcus Stroman by scoring two runs in the third inning. Bobby Witt Jr. drove in the first run of the game by hitting a single to left field, allowing Kyle Isbel to score. Witt later scored on a single by Salvador Perez.

The Royals added to the lead in the fifth, when Perez added to his legacy by driving in his 100th run of the season, a single to center that knocked in Isbel. It marked the second time that Perez has reached the century mark in his career.

“It felt pretty good, especially the way we are playing right now,” Perez said of reaching 100 RBIs. “If I do that, I’m trying to help my team win. That is the most important thing.”

The Royals added two more runs in the seventh and the eighth as Kris Bubic and John Schreiber blanked New York the rest of the way. The Royals became the first team to hold the Yankees to no runs and no walks with 14 strikeouts in New York’s franchise history.

Lugo had a big hand in keeping the Yankees off the bases.

“Today I felt in control,” Lugo said. “As far as seeing the frustration [in the Yankees], I really didn’t notice anything. I was so locked in on how I was feeling and how well the ball was coming out of my hand. That was the biggest focus. I tried to bring it each inning.”