Dominguez getting head start on homers

HOUSTON -- Last year, Astros third baseman Matt Dominguez had 31 hits under his belt before he slugged the first of his 21 homers. In fact, Dominguez didn't hit his first homer of the season until May 11, which came in his 122nd at-bat.

Dominguez has already slugged a pair of home runs in the first six games of the 2014 season, which account for his only two hits entering Monday. He was 2-for-18 with homers Wednesday against the Yankees and Sunday against the Angels.

"I'm just trying to hit the ball hard," Dominguez said. "I'm not really trying to hit it out of the park. It's just kind of weird that my first two hits are home runs, but I felt like I've been swinging the bat well. It's nice to square balls up and have them go out of the yard. I'm working hard on swinging at good pitches and getting good pitches to hit and getting good swings on them."

Dominguez has had a few good swings. On Sunday, he hit a line drive to left field that Josh Hamilton tracked down with a sliding catch.

"Once those start falling, I think things will start going a lot better," Dominguez said. "My numbers will start improving, like my average. I'm focusing on getting good pitches to hit."

Dominguez is the first Astros player to have his first two hits of the season leave the ballpark since Rick Ankiel a year ago.