Is Aaron Judge playing tonight? Yankees, Rays lineups announced

All Rise.

Aaron Judge returns to the Bronx for his first game since being activated off the injured list on Friday.

In the weekend series against the Baltimore Orioles, the reigning MVP went 3-for-6 in two games in his return to action after missing 42 games with a toe injury. This included his 20th home run of the season that he crushed 442 feet to the right of Baltimore’s bullpen, giving the Yankees the go-ahead lead on Saturday night.

The Yankees were below .500 without Judge (19-23) the past two months and find themselves currently 3.5 games behind the Houston Astros for the third and final wild card spot in the American League.

Domingo German will be on the mound tonight for New York. He’ll look to right the ship as he’s seen his ERA rise from 4.54 to 4.77 on the season after back-to-back starts of surrendering five or more earned runs. Hopefully the 30-year-old right-hander can get back on track against a Rays’ team that has cooled down mightily since their 27-6 start. Tampa Bay entered this month with a record of 57-28 but have lost 16 of 23 games in July.

This is arguably the most important stretch for the Yankees’ so far this season as they currently sit on the outside looking in at a postseason berth. A seven-game homestand against two of the best teams in the AL before a nine-game road trip with roughly two months left in the regular season will either vault New York closer to the final wild card spot or keep them further from a potential playoff push.

Here are the lineups for tonight’s series opener:

New York Yankees

Tampa Bay Rays

Check back for updates….