Jazz Chisholm Jr. gave the Yankees their best offensive moment in Monday night’s loss, but it was his defense that played a bigger role in the game’s outcome.

Chisholm made two defensive errors in the Yankees’ 4-2 loss to the Royals in Game 2, erasing a ninth-inning solo home run that served as a consolation prize for a team that struggled at the plate all night .

The first and more costly of these came in the four-run fourth inning that reversed the momentum in the game.

With Tommy Pham on second and one out, Chisholm failed to turn away Alex Verdugo’s throw from left field after Garrett Hampson singled.

As a result, Pham had no play at the plate and Hampson easily moved to second and later scored on Maikel Garcia’s base hit.

“I thought about it right away,” Chisholm said. “I don’t know if you saw me, I immediately said ‘my mistake’ to (Alex) Verdugo. Because that’s supposed to stop the inning right there. There (wouldn’t have been) three instead of two.”

Aaron Boone, a third baseman during his playing days, said it was the type of play that would have been natural if Chisholm had played the position more often throughout his career.

“That’s one of the things I’m worried about when it comes to some of our guys who are new to first base or third base,” Boone said. “…These are the little things that have to become instinctive, and that’s where ongoing work comes into play a little bit. But yes, he will be in that cutting position.”

Chisholm’s error an inning later was less costly on the scoreboard, although unlike the earlier error it was actually ruled an error as he missed a throw from third to first, allowing Yuli Gurriel to reach safely.

Ironically, the Yankees were bailed out of this mess by another position convert when Jon Berti made an excellent reach to first base on a line drive from MJ Melendez for an unassisted double play.

During 400 ¹/₃ innings at the position in the regular season, Chisholm made seven errors – four of which were throwing errors – but performed passably by advanced standards.

According to FanGraphs, he had six outs above average and had two defensive runs blocked.

That won’t win you any Gold Gloves, but for a player learning a new position on the fly, it was something everyone could live with, especially given Chisholm’s performance at the plate.

But it’s October now.

And the Yankees need more than just Chisholm’s bat.