Trent Grisham belts homer in return to Yankees lineup after hamstring issue

TORONTO — After both made cameos off the bench Wednesday night, Trent Grisham and Austin Wells returned to the Yankees lineup Thursday for the first time since their respective injury scares.

Grisham had been out since leaving Monday’s game with hamstring tightness, with the team initially fearing it might lead to an injured list stint.

But the center fielder healed quicker than expected and was ready to go by Thursday’s series finale against the Blue Jays.

“He feels good about it. Training staff feels good about it,” Boone said before the Yankees’ 8-5 loss. “Is it 100 percent? Maybe not. But feel good about that he’s good enough and sound enough to go.”

Grisham returned to the leadoff spot Thursday and went 1-for-3 with a pair of walks, while also hitting a game-tying solo home run in the third inning.

His comeback allowed Boone to shift Cody Bellinger to right field and give Aaron Judge a DH day after spending the last three days on the turf.

Though he has cooled off from his red-hot start, Grisham still entered Thursday second on the team with 15 home runs to go with an .816 OPS in 73 games.

“He’s been so important to us on both sides of the ball,” Boone said. “His center-field play, his at-bat quality all year. Even when he went through that ‘downturn,’ you watch day in and day out, it’s a good at-bat. He’s hit for power. He’s got on base. He’s been a really good two-way player, All-Star-caliber player for us in the first half. So, big to be able to avoid [the injured list].”

Wells, meanwhile, started at catcher for the first time since Saturday.

In between, he underwent testing for a lack of circulation in his left pointer finger, with the results showing arterial damage instead of anything more serious.

Wells went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout in Thursday’s loss.

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Following Thursday’s game, the Yankees optioned Clayton Beeter back to Triple-A after he got tagged for three runs on three hits and two walks across 1 ²/₃ innings in relief of the injured Clarke Schmidt.

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DJ LeMahieu was out of the lineup Thursday, but the Yankees still declined to use it as a chance to bounce Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to his best defensive position, second base.

Instead, Chisholm remained at third base with Oswald Peraza starting at second.

“I don’t want to just move him back and forth and do that necessarily in that form or fashion,” Boone said.

Asked about how much he is considering moving Chisholm back to second, Boone continued to say it was an ongoing decision.

“Continue to evaluate our roster, see where we’re at, see what makes the most sense,” he said. “It’s something I think about a little bit.”

Peraza lifted for pinch hitter in the top of the seventh, and LeMahieu came on to finish the game at second base.

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The last time they saw Juan Soto, the Yankees shut down their former teammate in the May Subway Series, holding him to 1-for-10 with four walks and three strikeouts.

Entering this weekend’s rematch, Soto is coming off NL Player of the Month honors after a torrid June.

“He’s had a Juan-like month,” Boone said. “So it’ll be a challenge holding him down. Comes down to executing at a really high level.”

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The Yankees signed veteran infielder Nicky Lopez to a minor league contract Thursday, while losing Triple-A infielder CJ Alexander on waivers to the Dodgers.