CHICAGO — The New York Yankees might have their most feared sluggers back in the lineup soon after Aaron Judge joined Giancarlo Stanton on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday.

Judge, making his first rehab appearance, was the designated hitter Friday night at Durham. Stanton was in right field after the Yankees transferred him from Class A Tampa to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

“We feel like they’re at a point where they’re doing well and obviously they’ve got to get through these final steps and hurdles and rack up some time here,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “But we’re starting to plan and get excited for them, hopefully joining us at some point on the homestand.”

Judge, the 2017 AL Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-Star, has been sidelined since April 20 because of a strained left oblique. Stanton, the 2017 NL MVP, has not played for the Yankees since March 31 because of biceps, shoulder and calf injuries.

Boone said Stanton could be ready to rejoin the club after the weekend as long as he doesn’t experience any setbacks. The Yankees open a 10-game homestand Monday against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Judge will probably need a little more time with the Triple-A club. Boone said the plan was to have him serve as the DH the first two games before playing him in the outfield.

“We’ll want him to get out there and get some back-to-back games where he’s on defense and it’s more about building up that kind of in-baseball-shape kind of thing,” Boone said. “Whereas Giancarlo, obviously, is a little further along there.”

The Yankees have placed 20 players on the injured list this year, matching their total for the entire 2018 season. Even so, they came into Friday’s game against the Chicago White Sox leading the AL East with a 41-26 record.

Cardinals 5, Mets 4

NEW YORK — Paul DeJong hit an RBI single off Edwin Diaz in the 10th inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals completed their rally from a night earlier to beat the New York Mets 5-4 Friday.

The game Thursday was suspended after 8 1/2 innings, moments after the Cardinals’ Harrison Bader drove in the tying run with a two-out double off DÃŒaz in the rain.

Play resumed where things left off, and a small crowd at Citi Field saw Carlos Martinez (1-0) pitch a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth. Diaz (1-4) then jogged out of the bullpen to continue his outing.

Pinch-hitter Yairo MuÃ’oz led off with a single, stole second and advanced to third on Matt Carpenter’s groundout. DeJong followed by grounding a ball into left field to score MuÃ’oz.

Jordan Hicks pitched perfectly through the bottom of the inning for his 14th save.

The Cardinals gathered around the mound for congratulatory handshakes, then returned to the clubhouse for a quick break before playing the second game of the series.

Rain pounded down Thursday night as New York took a 4-2 lead into the ninth. Umps signaled for the tarp, but first baseman Pete Alonso and other Mets players lobbied hard to keep the game going.

After umpires and both managers met on the field, the grounds crew was waved off and play continued. St. Louis then rallied against DÃŒaz, with Bader driving in the tying run before slipping between second and third. He was thrown out to end the inning.

The field was covered back up after that, and the suspension was announced 50 minutes later.

The game resumed at 6:10 p.m. Friday. In an odd scene, there was no anthem, no player introductions — none of the hubbub that usually accompanies the start of a big league game. Moments before leading off the bottom of the ninth, Mets slugger Todd Frazier sat on a stool by the on-deck circle, chatting casually with fans. Frazier grounded out to short.

Bader finished the first game with three hits. DeJong was 1 for 4 and is now 25 for 71 (.352) against the Mets with 17 extra-base hits.

AN OK K

Mets catcher Wilson Ramos had a most memorable strikeout Thursday night, going down looking in the fourth moments after his wife, Yely, surprised him with the news that she’s pregnant with the couple’s third child. She ran down the steps near the on-deck circle holding a sign saying “We’re pregnant! Wilson, this is your 3rd child. We love you!”

Ramos chuckled between practice swings, then tried to focus on his at-bat. He was struck out by Jack Flaherty.

“I don’t like putting another thing in my head when I go to the plate, but that moment made me so excited,” Ramos said. “I tried to hit a homer or do something good. I got a strikeout, nothing good. But I was still happy for the rest of the game.”

TRAINERS ROOM

Cardinals: RHP Dominic Leone was recalled from Triple-A Memphis to be the 26th man for the second game.

Mets: RHP Taylor Bashlor was brought up from Triple-A Syracuse to be New York’s 26th man.

UP NEXT

Cardinals RHP Daniel Ponce de Leon (0-0, 1.80) starts in place of injured Adam Wainwright. LHP Steven Matz (5-4, 3.88) is up for the Mets.

——

Follow Jake Seiner: https://twitter.com/Jake–Seiner

——

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP–Sports

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press.