George Lombard Jr. socks first career grand slam

Lombard missed four starts with knee soreness. He’s batting seventh in his return, which is the lowest he’s hit since Aug. 15. With Lombard starting and Ryan McMahon back, José Caballero is sitting for the first time since Aug. 19.

This seemed inevitable with the Yankees having an off day prior to Friday’s series opener against the Padres. There’s a chance Lombard requires a trip to the injured list if he’s not ready to go in a couple days. The 21-year-old rookie has missed four straight games with right knee discomfort. It’ll be José Caballero filling in at shortstop once again.

As expected, Lombard is sitting out for the third consecutive game with right knee discomfort. It’ll be José Caballero continuing to handle shortstop in his absence. There’s a chance he winds up requiring a trip to the injured list, but the Yankees have some flexibility with expanded rosters to wait and see for a couple extra days.

While Boone said he “does not anticipate an IL stint,” for Lombard, he also “wouldn’t rule it out.” We’d expect the Yankees to put him through a bit more work pre-game on Tuesday before determining if he needs to miss any time.

The Yankees aren’t going to take any chances with Lombard as he sits for a second straight game with knee inflammation. The 21-year-old underwent a precautionary MRI over the weekend that didn’t reveal any structural damage. It appears that he’ll avoid a trip to the injured list with rosters expanding this week. It’ll be José Caballero taking over at shortstop for the second straight game. It’s been surprising to see him struggle defensively with a couple prominent errors since being called up earlier this month, but he’s managed to hold his own at the plate so far.

The 21-year-old infielder was pulled from the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader after suffering a knee injury. The good news is that an MRI exam revealed no structural damage, just a bit of swelling around his patella. It remains unclear if he’ll need a short stint on the injured list or not, but Lombard shouldn’t be looking at any sort of extended absence. Jose Caballero will start in his place at shortstop and bat seventh for the Yankees against Red Sox’ left-hander Ranger Suarez.

The Yankees are still waiting on the results of the MRI exam that Lombard underwent after making an early exit from the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader against the Red Sox, but it sounds like they’re optimistic that he was able to avoid any sort of significant injury. Expect the club to provide another update on his status prior to Sunday’s series finale.

Lombard tweaked his right knee during an at-bat in the second inning and was ultimately removed from the game in the fourth. The 21-year-old phenom is set to undergo imaging on the knee before the night is through. If he’s forced to land on the injured list, it would open up additional playing time for speedster Jose Caballero.

Lombard’s streak of six straight games with an error mercifully ended Friday, but it hasn’t resulted in an offensive turnaround yet; he’s 5-for-33 with one RBI and 13 strikeouts in his last nine games, leaving him at .247/.306/.364 in 22 games overall. The Yankees will stick with him, but he might be due for a day off; he’s been in the lineup every game since he was called up.

Lombard drew a walk to lead off the fifth inning and scored on a triple by Spencer Jones. He then started the bottom of the seventh with a solo homer off Victor Mederos to extend the Yankees’ lead. He later added a hit in the eighth. The home run was the second in four games for the 21-year-old shortstop, getting his Yankees career off to an excellent start.