Aaron Judge returned to the lineup Monday after leaving Sunday’s game with dizziness, but the outfielder said he was still dealing with symptoms.
“I feel better,’’ Judge said. “Not 100 percent. It came out of nowhere [on Sunday]. I’ve gotten my bell rung a couple times in football, and it kind of felt like that.”
Despite playing — and hitting a massive, three-run homer to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth in what turned out to be a 6-5, 10-inning win over the Twins in The Bronx — Judge said he’s still not sure what’s wrong.
“I kept hoping it would pass,’’ Judge said of what happened on Sunday.
Judge said it wasn’t due to a lack of hydration and was still searching for answers.
“My vitals are good,’’ Judge said. “We just don’t know what it is.”
Jameson Taillon threw off flat ground Monday and Aaron Boone said “it went better than he expected,” as the right-hander tries to come back from a right ankle tendon injury.
“He had an encouraging day,’’ the manager said of Taillon, who had been in a walking boot after receiving a PRP injection with the hope of being able to rejoin the rotation down the stretch.
The rotation has also been shorthanded due to Gerrit Cole being pushed back after he left his previous start Sept. 7 against Toronto with left hamstring tightness.
Cole is scheduled to start in Baltimore on Tuesday and said the hamstring feels good.
The Yankees’ ace had been in a groove before the hamstring injury. In four starts after returning from the COVID-19 IL, the right-hander allowed just two runs in 24 ²/₃ innings, striking out 39 and walking just four.
Clarke Schmidt, who made his first start of the season Sunday against the Mets, was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre following Monday’s game.
Gary Sanchez was asked Monday about his defensive lapse in Friday’s loss to the Mets, when he allowed Jonathan Villar to score in the bottom of the first after Joey Gallo’s throw from left beat Villar to the plate easily.
Sanchez, through an interpreter, said he anticipated a collision at the plate as soon as he caught the ball and saw Villar approaching, and he was afraid one of them would get hurt on the play.
“I saw he slowed down and this is where I assumed it would be an easy tag there to get the job done,’’ Sanchez said. “All of a sudden, he surprised me and was able to slide and got under me and I tagged him on the face. It’s a play you learn from. You go through the experience and know what to expect.”
The Yankees snapped a six-game home losing streak Monday. It was their longest winless stretch in The Bronx since 2011. … They now have 10 walk-off victories, the most by the Yankees since 2009, when they had 15. … Yankees batters have hit multiple homers in five straight games, their longest since last year. … Right-hander Sal Romano elected free agency after being outrighted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Romano gave up a go-ahead run against the Blue Jays after entering a tie game in the seventh inning. He was designated for assignment the next day.