Tuesday's loss was Judge's first game since July 25 because of the elbow strain. An MRI showed no acute damage to his ulnar collateral ligament, and he had a platelet-rich injection July 27, when he was placed on the IL in a move retroactive to the previous day. The first time Judge said he felt pain in the elbow was July 22 in Toronto, after he made a strong throw home when George Springer singled to right field.

Judge entered Tuesday night's game hitting .342 and was fourth in the majors with 37 homers and fifth with 85 RBIs.

New York's second loss of the Texas series was the club's fifth in a row, and consigns the Yankees to a second series loss in a row. They have fallen to third place in the AL East behind Toronto and Boston. In first place at the start of July, the Bronx outfit has slumped to six-and-a-half games behind the Blue Jays, and currently holds a wild-card spot three-and-a-half games behind the Red Sox.

"Hopefully, it's the start of something really good," Boone said of Judge's return.

Judge's comeback was part of a bevy of roster moves, headlined by the Yankees sending reliever Jake Bird to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre just five days after acquiring the right-hander from Colorado before the trade deadline.

Bird allowed seven runs — six earned — in two innings over his first three appearances with the Yankees, capped by Josh Jung's three-run homer in the 10th inning of the Rangers' 8-5 victory in the series opener.

"I think he got quite a bit of work there in the first half, a lot of success," Boone said. "And he's had some struggles lately. We still think really highly of him, and think he's not only going to help us this year in the short term, but certainly in the long term, too. So, hopefully, this is something that does give him that little bit of a reset."

The Yankees put newly acquired outfielder Austin Slater on the IL with a left hamstring strain. Slater, traded by the Chicago White Sox last week, exited in the second inning Monday night after running out a fielder's choice grounder.

New York also activated right-hander Mark Leiter Jr, who has been out almost a month with a stress fracture in his leg. Right-handed relief pitcher Yerry De los Santos was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and right-hander JT Brubaker was designated for assignment.

Giancarlo Stanton, who has been the Yankees' starting DH for all of his 32 games this season, was displaced by Judge in the lineup. His 10th homer was a two-run shot in the fourth inning on Monday that gave the Yankees a 5-4 lead over the Rangers. He missed the first 70 games of the season with inflammation in the tendons of both elbows.

"That's the tough part," Boone said. "G's been in such a good place for, really, most of the time he's been back. Just feel like he's putting together real consistent at-bats where he's a real threat all the time. That'll be tough to navigate these first few days."

Agencies/China Daily