Yankees takeaways from Sunday's 6-1 win at Astros, including Jasson Dominguez's game-changing home run
Jasson Dominguez's second MLB home run put the Yankees ahead for good in a 6-1 win at the Astros, which secured a rare three-game sweep of Houston for New York.
Four things to know from Sunday's game
1. Dominguez has staying power. After his first-pitch home run off Justin Verlander in Friday's 6-2 win to open the series, Dominguez finished how he started by launching the game-changing home run as the Yankees (68-69) swept the Astros (77-61) and inch closer to .500.
With DJ LeMahieu on second following a one-out RBI double that scored Oswaldo Cabrera and tied the Yankees at 1-1 in the seventh inning, Dominguez picked up Aaron Judge. After Judge's strikeout swinging for the second out of the frame, Dominguez turned on Cristian Javier's 1-0 slider at 80 mph and sent a moonshot down the right-field line to put the Yankees up 3-1.
Dominguez, who batted third for the second straight game after doing so and going 1 for 5 in Saturday's 5-4 win, is here to stay as the Yankees' centerfielder.
2. To Dominguez's credit, Javier (9-3, 4.65 ERA) largely limited the Yankees until the long ball. Javier allowed three runs on four hits while striking out eight and walking three in six innings. Through the fifth, Javier held New York scoreless on one hit and retired 13 straight. Cabrera's one-out single in the sixth broke the spell, and LeMahieu converted before Dominguez broke through to put the Yankees ahead and stun the Astros.
3. For good measure, Gleyber Torres ignited a three-run ninth inning that extended the Yankees' cushion to 4-1. Torres' 24th homer of the season, a solo shot into the left-center train tracks off Jose Urquidy that picked up Dominguez's leadoff flyout to Jose Altuve. Anthony Volpe singled, and Austin Wells' second MLB hit after Friday's first-career single -- an RBI double in the right-center gap -- pushed the Yankees' lead to 5-1. Oswald Peraza picked up Everson Pereira's strikeout swinging and lined a two-out RBI double down the left-field line to polish off a three-run ninth and the Yankees' 6-1 final.
4. While the big hits were headlined the story from the series-sweeping win, Michael King (4-5, 2.88 ERA) deserves credit for keeping the Astros quiet. In his fourth start of the season, he allowed one run on five hits over five innings while striking out four and walking one. Fellow righties in the bullpen -- Tommy Kahnle (two), Jonathan Loaisiga (one) and Clay Holmes (one) -- brought the Yankees home with a combined scoreless final four frames. Only Loaisiga allowed hits (two) as the Yankees limited the Astros to seven all night.
Highlights
What's next
The Yankees are off Monday. They return to Yankee Stadium for a six-game homestand that starts with Tuesday's 7:05 p.m. opener against the Detroit Tigers. The first of a three-game set sees Gerrit Cole (12-4, 2.95 ERA) take the mound for the Yankees.
