Yankees finding ways to get Matt Carpenter’s bat in the lineup

BOSTON — The Yankees went from not being able to find enough at-bats for Matt Carpenter to doing whatever they can to keep the ridiculously hot veteran’s bat in the lineup.

On Wednesday night in Pittsburgh, Carpenter started in rightfield — his first start in the outfield since 2013 — and on Friday night, he found himself in the small but quirky confines of leftfield at Fenway Park, Quirky, of course, because of all that comes with playing left with the Green Monster looming behind.

Carpenter handled the assignment reasonably well — he had plenty of balls hit in his direction in the Yankees’ 12-5 victory — and went 3-for-4, including a homer and a double, making putting him back in left Saturday night an easy call for Aaron Boone.

“He’s certainly earned more and more opportunities,” Boone said. “Love the days that I have him over there on the bench as a weapon to shoot in a big spot off the bench, but glad at this point in the season we’ve gotten him some reps in the outfield that that can hopefully be an option. Still don’t see him out there in an everyday role, but to be able to do that in a pinch here and there and to keep him sharp and getting him at-bats, especially when he’s swinging it well, we’ll continue to look for those opportunities.”

Carpenter entered Saturday at 18-for-54 (.333) in 15 starts this season, with nine homers, 20 RBIs, three doubles, four walks and 14 runs in 70 plate appearances. He went 2-for-2 with a walk in the Yankees’ 6-5, 10-inning loss to the Red Sox.

“I try not to put too much emphasis on expectations and really just focus on execution of whatever role I had,” said Carpenter, whom the Yankees brought aboard in late May to little fanfare. “Didn’t really come in with a bunch of expectations, but it’s been really great what’s happened and I’m very grateful for the opportunity I’ve been given and hopefully will continue to get.”

Return of the Rizz

Anthony Rizzo, who missed the previous four games with back spasms, returned to the lineup Saturday night, starting at first and batting third.

“I feel like he’s through it,” Boone said. “He described it as something that kind of happens to him, it seems like, once a year, and usually takes him one to three days to get through it. He made steady improvements each day, so I certainly feel comfortable that he’s through it.”

Rizzo entered the night hitting .223 but with an .843 OPS and 22 homers, second-most on the team behind Aaron Judge’s 30. He had a pair of RBI doubles and also scored a run Saturday.  

Rizzo said of how he felt physically: “Good. Just everything as the game was going on felt more and more comfortable. Definitely feels good to be out there in such a great environment.”

German closing in

Domingo German, who started the season on the 60-day injured list with right shoulder impingement syndrome, could be activated before the All-Star break, which starts after next Sunday’s game against the Red Sox. The righthander allowed one hit in four scoreless innings in which he struck out four Saturday afternoon in a rehab start for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

“We’ll make that call [soon],” Boone said. “Potentially we could bring him [this week] or have him have one more [rehab outing]. We’ll have those conversations in the next 24, 48 hours.”

Whenever German is activated, he is likely to wind up in the bullpen in a yet-to-be-defined role.

Loaisiga, too

Reliever Jonathan Loaisiga, on the IL since May 25 with right shoulder inflammation, started for Class A Tampa on Saturday night in a rehab assignment. Boone said Loaisiga will join the club Monday in New York, then have another rehab outing Tuesday night, this one with Triple-A Scranton. If that goes well, Loaisiga could be activated before the end of next weekend.

Erik Boland started in Newsday’s sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.