Yankees’ Aaron Judge set for return to outfield after three-game break

BOSTON — Besides sending a ball over the Green Monster and another into the Red Sox bullpen, Aaron Judge did not visit the outfield all weekend at Fenway Park. 

But after DHing for a third straight game on Sunday in a 6-4 loss to the Red Sox, Judge is expected to return to right field on Monday in Minnesota when the Yankees open a series against the Twins at Target Field. 

In the meantime, Giancarlo Stanton started in left field Sunday for the second time in three games (after being off Saturday) and had an awkward start to his night.

In what turned into a six-run bottom of the first inning, Jarren Duran led off with a slicing fly ball to left field that Stanton overran and then made a leaping attempt at as it clanked off the Green Monster behind him, turning into a triple. 

“I still have not seen a good replay on it,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I don’t even know where it landed. All I had was the iPad in the dugout, where I’m lost.” 

It’s impossible to know if another outfielder would have made the catch, though Stanton has mostly held his own since he began playing the field with Judge working his way back from a flexor strain.

Judge had returned to the field to start four games in right field over the past two series before this one, rotating with Stanton before DHing in all three games against the Red Sox. 

Judge’s bat, meanwhile, continued to catch fire, homering for the fifth time in his past six games Sunday with a 400-foot shot off Garrett Crochet in the fifth inning.

In his career against Crochet, Judge is 3-for-15 with 11 strikeouts and two home runs. 

Before Saturday night, Luke Weaver had given up runs in three of his past four appearances, giving an inconsistent bullpen another potential concern.

But he looked more like himself while striking out a pair to end the sixth inning and strand a pair of inherited runners in a huge spot. 

“I feel like the last few outings, I’d lost a bit of that fire on the mound,” Weaver said. “I know situations bring different moments and I feel like [Saturday] fed me pretty well. I was able to channel and tap back into that and it propelled me through.” 

Heading down the stretch, the Yankees need that fiery version of Weaver that they saw late last season when he took over the closer’s role and pitched well.

It would certainly give Boone another trustworthy option out of what has been an unpredictable bullpen. 

Amed Rosario, making just his fifth start as a Yankee, homered off Crochet and is batting .318 with a .859 OPS against left-handers this season, including 8-for-20 as a Yankee.