The Yankees dropped the Royals back into the ALDS with an uninspired loss in Game 2

As electric as it was in the first inning at sold-out Yankee Stadium on Monday, the building slowly lost power as the night progressed.

The ups and downs of Carlos Rodon and a wasteful offense will ensure that.

Rodon fumbled during a four-run fourth inning and the Yankees' hitters looked like they were in their summer swoon en route to a 4-2 loss to the Royals in Game 2 of the ALDS.

Life came back to the Bronx in the bottom of the ninth inning when Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off Royals closer Lucas Erceg with a home run to second.

But that was only temporary, as the Yankees scored the winning run with two outs to Gleyber Torres and ended it with a groundout.

There will be no win over an AL Central opponent this time around as the teams now travel to Kansas City and the series heads into Game 3 on Wednesday with a 1-1 tie.

“It still feels the same that we’re going to win (the series),” Chisholm said. “I don’t feel like anyone feels any different. We're going to go out there and still do our thing. We still don't feel like any team is better than us.

“We had a lot of missed opportunities tonight, so they just got lucky.”

While Rodon was a buzzkill, giving up four runs over 3²/₃ innings after a dominant start, the Yankees' bullpen kept the deficit at 4-1 and gave its offense a fighting chance.

Except the Yankees couldn't do anything with it against lefty Cole Ragans and the Royals' bullpen.

After going 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position in Saturday's Game 1 victory, the Yankees went 1-for-6 while leaving eight more runners on Monday. With runners on base Monday, they posted a 2-for-20 score.

“They made their pitches when they needed to,” said likely AL MVP Aaron Judge, who had another quiet night going 1-3 with a walk and an infield single. “We had a couple guys in scoring position and then we kind of buckled down and made some tough shots. We have to get through these situations and break it down.”

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The Yankees struggled to generate much offense against Ragans, letting him off the hook early after he walked the game's first two batters – just as they had walked Michael Wacha's runners on second and third with no outs in the first inning of Game 1 had wasted.

They had Ragans throw 87 pitches to get 12 outs on Monday as the Royals turned to their bullpen to start the fifth inning, but the Yankees also couldn't figure out their four relievers.

“We made it difficult for him, gave ourselves a chance, but couldn't break through with their bullpen,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We have to assert ourselves.”

The task will only get more difficult on Wednesday when they face Royals star Seth Lugo, who dominated the Yankees last month.

“I feel like this team is the best to bounce back,” Chisholm said. “One day we get our asses kicked and the next day we get our asses kicked. We turn everything around. We never look at anything as a downer. Come back and learn from it the next day.”

Rodon came out firing and filled the strike zone. He pitched over the side in a lively first inning, eliciting an emphatic, even slightly maniacal reaction after each punchout, including sticking out his tongue after getting Vinnie Pasquantino to chase a slider to end the frame .

But after Giancarlo Stanton's RBI single at the end of the third quarter, the Royals answered right away in the top of the fourth quarter, continuing an early trend in the ALDS.

Before Chisholm's home run in the ninth inning, the Yankees had scored in five innings in the series.

Three times, including Monday night, the Royals responded with at least a run in the next half inning.

In the fourth inning, they scored on fourth down against Rodon, knocking him out of the game. All four of her hits against Rodon in the frame — including a solo home run by Salvador Perez that tied the game — came on sliders.

“There were points in the fourth round where I tried to do a little more, I wanted to do a little bit of swing-and-miss,” Rodon said. “When I think back on it, trusting the pitch and attacking is the mindset I wish I had. … Of course I want to be better, especially the way the first three innings went.”