Aaron Judge returns to The Bronx as Yankees, Rays announce lineups for series opener

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.

Jhony Brito, who was called up Monday afternoon, will get the spot start in place of Domingo German, who was scratched from his scheduled start tonight.

Brito last pitched for the Yankees on June 27 where he went 5 2/3 innings and allowed two runs on four hits in a 2-1 loss against the Oakland Athletics. The 25-year-old is 4-4 with a 4.70 ERA in 12 starts this season. Brito faced the Rays earlier this season and pitched four innings, surrendered four runs, including two home runs at Tropicana Field on May 5.

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

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Is Aaron Judge playing tonight? Yankees, Rays lineups announced