Yankees complete 3-game sweep, beat Astros 9-5

The Yankees did exactly what they were supposed to with the soft part of their schedule.

They beat the Astros, 9-5, Sunday afternoon in front of 46,832 at the Stadium to complete a three-game sweep.

With the victory the Yankees (40-23) finished a recent 16-game stretch against Cleveland, Baltimore (twice), Toronto and Houston with a 12-4 record.

Next up starting Tuesday: the defending National League champion Phillies.

A shaky Phil Hughes improved to 9-1 but, as is typically the case in his outings, he received plenty of run support.

The bulk of Sunday’s support was provided by Jorge Posada, who hit yet another grand slam.

Posada, catching for the first time since he returned from the disabled list, hit his second slam in two days, a two-out shot to right in the fifth inning off Casey Daigle that made it 7-1.

The Astros (25-39), in an eventful top of the sixth, scored four runs with two outs to pull within 7-5. The big blow came off the bat of former Yankees catcher Kevin Cash, who hit a two-run homer to left, just his second blast of the season.

But the Yankees tacked on two in the bottom half of the sixth to push their lead to 9-5, getting RBI singles from Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner, who had two of the Yankees’ nine hits. Ramiro Pena, getting the start for Alex Rodriguez, who missed his third straight game with tightness in his right groin, delivered a two-out, two-run single in the Yankees three-run fourth that made it 3-1.