Aaron Boone would prefer to see Aaron Judge sliding feet-first

ARLINGTON, Texas — Joe Girardi spent a good deal of time during his 10 years as Yankees manager trying to get Brett Gardner to slide feet-first rather than headfirst, but his pleas essentially fell on deaf ears.

Aaron Judge, who doesn’t go in headfirst nearly as much as Gardner, a close friend and mentor in the early part of Judge's Yankees career, nonetheless did so Wednesday afternoon in Minneapolis on an attempt to steal third. The awkward way Judge landed caused the right hip strain, which the Yankees are calling “mild,” that will have him out of the lineup for at least the next couple of days, with a stint on the injured list still possible.

Aaron Boone, who replaced Girardi before the 2018 season, has had similar discussions with Judge, who, like Gardner, is considered an above-average baserunner.

“He and I talk a lot about that . . . trying to keep it feet-first,” Boone said. “But that said, you’re playing in the heat of the moment, and as competitive as he is, sometimes that happens. Obviously, the other day he got himself in a tough spot. Those are things that we continue to talk about and try to lean into.”

Lo’s progress stalled

Don’t expect Jonathan Loaisiga to be back with the Yankees anytime soon.

The righthander, on the injured list since April 6 with right elbow inflammation, threw Wednesday with no problems but felt soreness when he reported for work on Thursday. An MRI taken Friday showed no additional damage, but the test didn’t show much in the way of improvement when it comes to the inflammation.

“Similar,” Boone said, adding that the reliever will meet with team physician Christopher Ahmad on Monday. “So nothing’s really changed . . . nothing structurally wrong [in the elbow].”

Keep an eye on . . . 

Wandy Peralta, one of two lefties in the bullpen — the just-promoted Nick Ramirez is the other — hadn’t pitched since Monday in Minneapolis, and Boone sounded as if he wouldn't use him the rest of this series. Then he pitched a scoreless eighth inning Saturday night.

“He’s a little beat up,” Boone had said of Peralta without being more specific. “So a couple days we’re staying away from him. But he’s doing well.”

Peralta, 31, had a 3.00 ERA in 10 games this season, striking out 11 in nine innings before Saturday. He had not allowed a hit to a lefthanded batter this season (0-for-14).

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Home cooking

Isiah Kiner-Falefa, a Ranger from 2018-21, recently bought a house in the Dallas area and is staying there — with the blessing of the team — during this four-game series that concludes Sunday.

“It’s weird,” Kiner-Falefa said Saturday of not staying in the team hotel, which is in downtown Dallas and about 10 minutes from the utilityman’s home. “But it’s pretty cool, too.”  

Kahnle latest

Righthander Tommy Kahnle, currently on the 60-day IL with right biceps tendinitis, threw a 15-pitch bullpen session Friday and said he expects to throw somewhere around 20 pitches on Sunday. Kahnle is not eligible to come off the IL until the end of May.

DeGrom to IL

Rangers righthander Jacob deGrom, a two-time National League Cy Young Award winner with the Mets whose tenure with them was just as notable for the number of injuries he suffered during that time, was placed on the IL Saturday with inflammation in his right elbow. DeGrom left Friday night's start against the Yankees after 3 2/3 innings with the injury.  

Extra bases

Entering Saturday, Yankees relievers had an MLB-best 2.40 ERA. The group also ranked second in the majors in opponents’ batting average (.197) and fourth in opponents’ OPS (.614) and was tied for fourth in strikeouts (111). Yankees pitchers overall had a 3.39 ERA, which was fifth-lowest in the game behind Tampa Bay’s 2.80 ERA, Houston’s 3.16, Milwaukee’s 3.36 and Atlanta’s 3.37 . . . DJ LeMahieu, who entered Saturday's game with a .333/.346/.500 slash line in his last seven games, was 7-for-19 (.368) with two doubles, eight RBIs and two walks this season with runners in scoring position . . . Anthony Rizzo entered Saturday having reached base in 22 of his first 26 games.