Reinforcements on the way as Yanks try to hold 1st

MILWAUKEE -- The Yankees have endured their fair share of injuries this season, and some of those injuries have been hard to overcome. But reinforcements are on the way for New York, as they look to end the season strong.

Despite a 4-1 loss to the Brewers on Saturday at American Family Field that dropped the Yankees to 23-30 after the All-Star break, the team remains confident heading into October. With 17 games remaining, it’s go time.

“This is [big] down the stretch,” Aaron Judge said. “We’re still sitting in first place, but we have a lot of important games. Another big game tomorrow against the Brewers, go back home [to] face Pittsburgh, then we’ve got Boston coming in for four and on the road to Toronto as well. These are make-or-break games, but we’ve been having those games all year. So we’ve just got to stay focused, stick to our plans, stick to our approach and bounce right back.”

On Saturday, the Yankees struggled to get much going. Jameson Taillon gave up four runs on four hits across five innings, and the offense scored just one run on five hits.

“I thought his stuff was good,” manager Aaron Boone said of Taillon. “I thought they really took tough at-bats against him. He hadn’t allowed a run until the [Willy] Adames home run. But even those first few innings, I thought his stuff was good.”

The Yankees put together an impressive 64-28 record to start the season, with the majority of their key players healthy. They added players like Matt Carpenter, who hit .305 and 15 homers in 47 games, and Andrew Benintendi, Frankie Montas, Harrison Bader and Scott Effross were all acquired at the Trade Deadline to bolster the roster.

• Latest on Yankees' injuries and roster moves

All those players except Montas have missed time, but the right-hander could be added to the list, as he is currently waiting for the results of an MRI on his throwing shoulder. Montas, though, remains optimistic that he will make his next start. He doesn’t think it’s the same injury that caused him to miss 17 games earlier in the season with the A’s.

“Today, I woke up and just felt normal soreness, nothing crazy,” Montas said.

That group of players joined Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu and Luis Severino on the injured list at some point in the second half of the season. With the injuries, the Yankees haven’t rolled out a lineup at full strength since Carpenter last played on Aug. 8.

• Marwin exits after being struck by throw to pitcher

But the team is now starting to get healthy as they head into the postseason. Rizzo, who was on the injured list with migraines and hasn’t played since Aug. 31, is expected to return to the Yankees’ lineup on Sunday for the series finale.

“He’s one of the best first baseman in the game for a reason,” Judge said. “He’s been a consistent part of this team and this lineup all year long. A couple of things have cropped up throughout the year, but he’s a guy that shows up every single day ready to play, and when we get him back in our lineup, he’s a guy that can work the count [and] hit for power. So he’s definitely going to be a big boost when he gets back in there.”

Rizzo’s 30 homers on the season show why he should be a nice boost for the offense. He ranks second on the team in home runs, RBIs (71), slugging (.493) and OPS (.832) behind Judge. Mix in LeMahieu, Bader, Effross and Severino, who are all expected to return at some point in the next week or so, and the Yankees are poised to get back some key players.

“Whenever we get those guys back, it’s definitely a boost,” Taillon said of Rizzo and LeMahieu’s return. “I mean those are pretty legit and bonafide big leaguers. They're definitely going to give us a boost, lengthen out the lineup. They bring stretch run experience, playoff experience, all that, so it’ll be definitely nice to get them back.”

“Even as we start to play well here, we’re still beat up and banged up,” Boone said before Saturday’s game. “But we’re also excited about the possible returns of some key guys starting [Sunday] and then Tuesday [and] Wednesday.”