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HOUSTON — The last time the Yankees swept a three-game series against the Astros, Jasson Dominguez was 10 years old.
Ten years later, he helped them accomplish the feat again by capping off his first series in the big leagues with an exclamation point.
Dominguez crushed his second home run in his third career game on Sunday night, a two-run shot in the sixth inning that broke a tie and lifted the Yankees to a 6-1 win over the Astros at Minute Maid Park.
“It feels so good,” Dominguez said.
Fellow rookies Austin Wells and Oswald Peraza later added RBI doubles in the ninth inning, after Glyeber Torres clubbed a solo homer, for some insurance to finish off the weekend in convincing fashion.
The Yankees (68-69) ended a 10-day, 10-game road trip by winning six of their last seven and cooling off the Astros (77-61).
“Obviously nothing’s gone how we wanted it to this year,” manager Aaron Boone said. “But we’re playing for a lot in there. You never know what can happen. We just want to go out and play our best baseball and hopefully make some noise this month and who knows?”
For most of the four years since Dominguez signed with the Yankees for $5.1 million out of the Dominican Republic, the center fielder has been out of sight, if not out of mind.
But his arrival this weekend did little to temper the hype that has long surrounded him as he delivered the Yankees a jolt.
After homering off Justin Verlander on the first swing he took in his debut Friday, Dominguez took Cristian Javier deep Sunday night.
One batter after the Yankees had tied the game on DJ LeMahieu’s RBI double, Dominguez got an 0-1 slider on the inside part of the plate and drilled it for a two-run shot and the 3-1 lead.
Dominguez became just the fourth Yankee in franchise history to hit two home runs in his first three career games, joining Aaron Judge, Yogi Berra and Joe Lefebvre.
“He’s lived up to every ounce of hype that I heard,” said Michael King, who tossed five innings of one-run ball as his buildup as a starter continued to go well. “I heard he was otherworldly and he comes out here and just dominates. I was more impressed with just his poise.”
King had similar praise for Wells, who was catching him for the first time, aside from a possible live batting practice in spring training. The right-hander credited his batterymate for putting together a strong game plan on a night when Wells also threw out the first runner who attempted to steal a base on him in the fifth inning.
Replacing King, Tommy Kahnle retired all six batters he faced to keep the 3-1 lead in check. Jonathan Loaisiga then worked out of a jam in the eighth inning by getting Jose Altuve to ground into a double play before the Yankees created some cushion with a three-run ninth.
It was only one series, but Dominguez and Wells certainly aced their first impressions as they came into a hostile environment and handled themselves well — with some results to show for it — while playing key roles in the sweep.
“It’s really cool to be in here and it was a really big group effort to get three wins here,” Wells said.
More established players in the clubhouse said throughout the weekend that there was a different feeling since Dominguez and Wells arrived Friday.
“We’re just having fun, playing a lot more loose and they’ve definitely brought an awesome energy in here,” King said.
The next test for Dominguez and Wells? Making their Yankee Stadium debuts Tuesday.
“I think it’s going to be big-time,” Dominguez said.
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