Jasson Dominguez hits one of Yankees' four homers in victory over Astros

HOUSTON — The two days leading up to Friday night’s game were almost entirely about Jasson Dominguez.

And the much-hyped Yankees prospect kept the spotlight firmly on himself once the game began.

The 20-year-old Dominguez, making his big-league debut against the Astros, homered off Justin Verlander on his first major-league swing, helping to send the Yankees to a 6-2 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 41,066 at Minute Maid Park.

“Impressive,” Aaron Judge said. “Especially coming here, a loud ballpark, facing a future Hall of Famer. For him to do that with the first swing he takes in the major leagues, it was amazing.”

The switch-hitting Dominguez, called up to the majors after only nine games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and getting the start in centerfield, stepped up in the first inning against Verlander with one on and two outs. He took the first pitch for a strike, then lined a 94-mph fastball the other way into the Crawford Boxes in left.

“Being able to do that,” Dominguez said through his interpreter, “was special.”

The Yankees successfully retrieved the ball from a mother and daughter who caught it, and they each got a signed Dominguez baseball in return.

The blast sent the Yankees’ dugout — and the sizable contingent of Dominguez’s family and friends in attendance — into hysterics. He then lined to left, grounded sharply to short and flied out to fairly deep left-center.

“We were jumping up and down like little kids,” Judge said. “Excited for him. You just felt a different energy on the bus coming to the field today.”

Catcher Austin Wells, who also made his big-league debut Friday, lined a single to right his first time up and finished 1-for-4.

“That was awesome,” Wells said of the hit. “Good to check that box in the first AB, and after that, I was just out there having fun.”

Wells, a teammate and friend of Dominguez’s from their time together with Triple-A Scranton, smiled regarding the centerfielder’s first-inning homer. “I mean, you can’t write it up any better than that, honestly,” he said.

Dominguez and Wells were not the only ones in the lineup to have success against Verlander. He has made a habit of tormenting the Yankees in his career, especially in October, but on this night, they had his number.

DJ LeMahieu (No. 14), Giancarlo Stanton (No. 21) and Judge (No. 30 in his 81st game) also went deep against Verlander (10-7, 3.34). It was Judge’s 250th career homer; he reached that milestone in his 810th game, the fastest in MLB history.

Though the bar was not especially high, Carlos Rodon turned in his best start of the season, limiting a powerful Astros lineup to two runs and three hits in five innings. Rodon (2-4, 5.70) walked one and struck out four.

“I thought I had really good stuff,” he said. “I was frustrated with the pitch count [92], but it’s a great lineup. They had a good approach and made me work.”

The Yankees (66-69), who are 5-3 on this 10-game, three-city trip, are 9 1⁄2 games out of the AL’s final wild-card spot.

“That’s one of those, in what’s been a long grind, tough season,” Aaron Boone said, “one of those you enjoy a little bit.”

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.