Yankees lineup rounding into shape after prolonged woes

MINNEAPOLIS — The Yankees’ pitching staff dominated their sweep of the Twins this week, but they also received some promising signs from their lineup. 

Aaron Judge continued to mash, Gleyber Torres looked more like he may finally be breaking out of his prolonged slump and Anthony Volpe got back to hitting early and often. 

The trio combined for six of the Yankees’ nine hits in Thursday’s 5-0 win over the Twins at Target Field. 

Volpe led off the game with a home run, extending his hitting streak to nine games.

Judge, a day after going 4-for-4 with a home run, three doubles and a walk, added two more doubles on Thursday and nearly had another but center fielder Manuel Margot made a running catch into the wall. 

“I’ve seen him do a lot of great things the last six-seven years, but the way he’s swinging the bat right now and seeing the ball [is impressive],” manager Aaron Boone said. “This trip alone, obviously he had the results and success, but he probably hit another five-six balls to the fence that were caught. Just seeing it and not missing when they do make a pitch to him.” 

Torres roped a pair of doubles Thursday — one with some help from left fielder Alex Kirilloff, with the ball hitting off his glove on the warning track — marking his first game with multiple extra-base hits since last September.

After crushing a three-run homer Sunday against the Rays, Torres went 5-for-12 with a walk in the Twins series. 

“It’s really, really good to see Gleyber swing it like we all know he’s capable of,” Boone said. “All of a sudden he gets it going like that, then we get that real length going in our lineup.” 

DJ LeMahieu (non-displaced foot fracture) went to Double-A Somerset on Thursday to go through a full workout, with the expectation being that he would start another rehab assignment on Friday.

The 35-year-old is expected to play three to five innings in the field Friday and then play again Sunday. 

LeMahieu’s last attempt at a rehab assignment lasted just one inning on April 23, as he exited with foot soreness.

But Boone was confident the veteran infielder was ready this time around. 

“We put you through a lot before we say, ‘OK, you’re ready to be in a game,’ ” Boone said. “DJ passed that last time he went out there, but certainly this time as well. We feel like he’s in a really good spot physically. 

“Part of the reason it has taken a lot of time is because he and us were going to be absolutely committed to this thing not being an issue when he goes to play. It’s not like, ‘Eh, it’s not feeling that great.’ No, we want that thing to be feeling really well. We want him to check all the boxes as far as physically being able to move really well, physically being able to handle a heavy workload and volume of swings, and by all accounts, he’s ready to go.”

Tommy Kahnle (shoulder) struck out the side in his fourth rehab appearance on Thursday night with Somerset, the first one on one-day’s rest.

If he comes out of it well, the reliever was expected to pitch again on Sunday before potentially being activated.