TAMPA — The third time was finally the charm for Aaron Judge’s return to the lineup.

Ten days after he last played in a game — with the time in between filled with an MRI exam to check on his abdominal discomfort, two failed predictions by Aaron Boone for when his captain might play again, and daily questions about Judge’s status with Opening Day beginning to creep up on him — Judge was back in the Yankees’ lineup on Wednesday night against the Pirates at Steinbrenner Field.

Judge batted third and played center field, finally appearing when and where the Yankees expected him to after his status had been shrouded in some mystery for a week and a half.

“Excited to get him going,” Boone said before the game. “Good to get him back in.”

Throughout the past 10 days, the Yankees have insisted they were playing things cautiously.

They would rather Judge miss a handful of Grapefruit League exhibitions instead of the games when they start counting next Thursday against the Astros in Houston.

Judge split center-field duties with Trent Grisham against the Pirates as the Yankees eased him back into game action, with the hope being that Judge would play in four of the final six games before breaking camp.

He had an RBI double and a walk before Grisham hit for him in the fourth inning.

With the Yankees on the road Thursday, Judge is expected to stay back in Tampa for workouts before likely playing Friday and Saturday — which would be his first time playing back-to-back days this spring — and then again on Monday in the Grapefruit League finale.

Judge now has 18 plate appearances in seven games this spring.

The 31-year-old previously indicated he needed about 30 spring training at-bats to get ready for the regular season, though he might not get all the way there.

“He’s probably had 100 live at-bats, just not all when the TV’s been on,” Boone said. “I’m not worried about that.”

It was a heavy amount of swings over the offseason that may have gotten Judge in this conundrum in the first place.

In his last game before Wednesday, on March 10, he got just two at-bats before being pulled for Grisham on what he and the Yankees said was a planned light day.

The following day, Boone described Judge as “kind of beat up,” and the veteran went for an MRI exam on his abdomen that they said came back clean. Judge indicated then he had been experiencing the discomfort for about a week on the follow-through of his swings.

“It’s just from swinging from November all the way til now, every single day, put some wear and tear on it,” Judge said March 12. “Especially coming back from a toe injury and my mechanics were a little messed up and [I was] working on some things. I’d rather take a couple games [off] now, when these games don’t matter, rather than miss games in April and May.”

Boone had first said on March 11 that he expected Judge to return to game action on March 13.

Then on that day, when Judge did not play, Boone said he had Judge “penciled in” to play on Saturday, which again did not come to fruition, leading Boone to say he was done making predictions.

Instead, Judge did not resume swinging again until Friday, beginning with tee-and-toss in the indoor cage and eventually advancing to facing high velocity and breaking balls off a machine.

But none of those batting practice sessions came on the field (despite Judge being listed on a few daily workout schedules to hit outside), which further clouded questions about his status.

And then came Wednesday. Judge was in the lineup, took batting practice outside and started the game in center field, eight days ahead of Opening Day, with Boone insisting his abdominal issues were fully behind him.

“[It was the] trainers and him just saying, ‘Let’s go,’ ” Boone said.