Josh Donaldson, Giancarlo Stanton hit home runs in return to lineup
Yankees' Josh Donaldson and Giancarlo Stanton prepare to take live BP in Tampa, Florida on February 20, 2023. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
LOS ANGELES — For the first time since April 5, Aaron Boone was able to fill out a lineup card with Josh Donaldson on it Friday night.
“Good to see him here and part of this,” Boone said before the Yankees began a three-game series at Dodger Stadium. “He worked hard to get to this point.”
Donaldson, who started at third base and batted fifth, had been on the injured list since April 6 with a right hamstring strain that kept him out for 52 games. “Excited to get him back in there and get him going,” Boone said.
Donaldson was not the only addition Friday. Giancarlo Stanton, who last played April 15 because of a left hamstring strain, returned and batted cleanup as the DH. “You’re talking about two sluggers [back] in there that are just going to add a little bit of length,” Boone said.
They did that immediately. Donaldson drove in three runs with two homers and Stanton had a solo shot in an 8-4 loss to the Dodgers.
Though the Yankees do plan to have Stanton play in the outfield eventually, Boone said that likely won’t occur for at least “a couple of weeks.” Boone said he expects both Donaldson and Stanton to play in two of the three games in this series.
Tommy Kahnle, out since the start of the year with right biceps tendinitis and on the 60-day IL the first two months of the season, also was activated Friday and pitched a scoreless inning.
Allen injures hip flexor
Outfielder Greg Allen will undergo tests Saturday after leaving Friday's game because of a hip flexor issue that cropped up during his first at-bat in the third inning.
"We'll see what we have tomorrow," Boone said of a possible stint on the injured list.
Allen said of it being an IL situation: "Not sure. We'll see how it feels [tomorrow]."
Judge wins another award
In what was far from a surprise, Aaron Judge was named the AL player of the month on Friday for his work in May.
In securing his sixth career player of the month award, Judge went 26-for-76 (.342) with 12 homers, 25 RBIs, five doubles, 23 runs, a .474 on-base percentage and an .882 slugging percentage in 21 games. Judge previously won the award in September/October 2022, July 2022, May 2022, September 2017 and June 2017.
