Astros swept by Yankees, tied for 2nd in AL West with Rangers prior to series in Arlington

HOUSTON — Prized rookie Jasson Domínguez hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the sixth inning to help the New York Yankees to a 6-1 win over the Houston Astros that completed a three-game sweep Sunday night.

It was the second home run in three career games for the 20-year-old Domínguez, who became the youngest Yankees player to go deep in his major league debut Friday night when he hit a two-run shot off Justin Verlander in his first at-bat.

Houston’s weekend slide came after a five-game winning streak and it left the Astros a game behind the first-place Mariners and tied for second with the Texas Rangers in a tight AL West race.

For the last-place Yankees, this series was a bright spot in a dismal season. It was their first sweep since taking three games from Kansas City from July 21-23 and the first time they’ve swept the Astros since September 2013.

Gleyber Torres added a solo homer in the ninth to push the lead to 4-1 in his return after missing two games with lower back tightness. New York rookie Austin Wells had an RBI double in a three-run ninth for his first career extra-base hit.

That sent Houston fans streaming for the exits as chants of “Let’s go Yankees!” filled Minute Maid Park.

Michael King yielded five hits and a run with four strikeouts in five innings. Tommy Kahnle (2-3) worked two hitless innings

Jonathan Loáisiga took over for the eighth and was greeted by a single from Jeremy Peña. There was one out in the inning when pinch-hitter Yainer Diaz singled, but Jose Altuve grounded into a double play to end the threat.

Houston starter Cristian Javier (9-3) allowed four hits and three runs with eight strikeouts in six innings.

Alex Bregman singled with one out in the first before moving to third on a single by Yordan Alvarez. The Astros took a 1-0 lead when Bregman scored on a sacrifice fly by Kyle Tucker.

Torres singled to start the second, but Javier retired the next 13 batters. New York’s next baserunner came when Oswaldo Cabrera singled with one out in the sixth. DJ LeMahieu followed with a double to left-center that scored Cabrera to tie it 1-all.

Alvarez was shaken up on the play when he slipped on the warning track, fell to his knees and crashed into the wall. Center fielder Mauricio Dubón called for an athletic trainer and Alvarez pointed at his left knee. But he got up after a couple of minutes and remained in the game after talking to the trainer for a bit.

There were two outs when Domínguez connected on his shot to the seats in right field that put the Yankees on top 3-1.

Alvarez hit a foul fly ball into the left-field corner with two outs in the bottom half that a fan reached out and deflected. That caused left fielder Everson Pereira to change direction quickly and tumble to the ground without making the catch.

The umpires met and talked the play over before calling Alvarez out on fan interference.

UP NEXT

Yankees: New York is off Monday before Gerrit Cole (12-4, 2.95 ERA) starts Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series against Detroit at home.

Astros: RHP J.P. France (10-5, 3.49) starts for Houston in the opener of the last series with Texas this season as the Astros, Rangers and Mariners fight for the AL West title.

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