Castro, Tex lead HR parade; Yanks top Astros

NEW YORK -- The Yankees chased Collin McHugh early in a six-run first inning, then added a pair of three-run homers from Starlin Castro and Mark Teixeira as they enjoyed a 16-6 rout of the Astros on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.

McHugh recorded just one out in the bottom of the first, which saw the Yankees send 12 men to the plate and took 36 minutes to complete. Castro launched his first homer in pinstripes in the second inning and Teixeira went deep in the third inning, both off Michael Feliz. Every Yankees starter had reached base by the second inning.

Carlos Correa homered twice off Yankees starter Michael Pineda, who permitted six runs and eight hits over five innings. Correa hit a solo blast to left field in the first inning and added a laser toward Monument Park in the fifth that was projected by Statcast™ at 462 feet.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Yanks knock McHugh out early: McHugh threw 43 pitches in the first inning and had just one out
to show for it as the right-hander headed to the showers sporting a 135.00 ERA. Brian McCann's two-run double highlighted the Yankees' onslaught as the Bombers saw 65 pitches from McHugh and Feliz. Teixeira, Carlos Beltran, Chase Headley and Castro also drove in runs in the half-inning.

Springer slam: Astros right fielder George Springer launched an 0-1 pitch from Pineda in the second inning and sent it sailing high over the left-field wall Wednesday for his first career grand slam. The Astros didn't hit their first grand slam of last season until Aug. 1.

 Starlin is darlin': Castro enjoyed a four-hit, five-RBI performance as he joined Babe Ruth, Yogi Berra and Tino Martinez as the only Yankees to drive in seven runs in their first two games for the team, according to the YES Network. Castro started the night with an RBI single, hit a three-run homer in the second, doubled in the sixth and lined a run-scoring hit in the seventh. Castro also had a two-run double off Dallas Keuchel on Opening Day.

 Carlos the Great: Correa continued his torrid start, going 4-for-4 with a pair of home runs. He's 5-for-8 so far this season, continuing his ascent to superstardom after winning the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 2015. He hit a solo homer in the second to left field and hit a missile off the batter's eye in the fifth for his third homer in two games.

WHAT'S NEXT
Astros: The Astros will send right-hander Mike Fiers to the mound to face the Yankees in today's 3:05 p.m. CT series finale at Yankee Stadium. Fiers made 10 appearances (nine starts) for the Astros after coming over in a July trade with the Brewers and was 2-1 with a 3.32 ERA.

Yankees: Nathan Eovaldi (14-3, 4.20 ERA in 2015) will get the ball as the Yankees wrap up their three-game series with Houston, preparing to hit the road after today's 4:05 p.m. ET contest. Eovaldi was 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA in two starts vs. the Astros in 2015, including eight scoreless innings of four-hit ball on Aug. 24 in New York.

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Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @bryanhoch, on Facebook and read his MLBlog, Bombers Beat. Brian McTaggart is a reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog, Tag's Lines. Follow @brianmctaggart on Twitter and listen to his podcast. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.