The Yankees earned their 50th win of the season as they defeated the Boston Red Sox 8-1 in the series opener at Fenway Park on Friday night.

Here are some takeaways...

- After rain delayed the game's first pitch by about a little over an hour, Alex Verdugo didn't waste any time welcoming himself back to Fenway Park, as he crushed a two-run home run on the very first pitch he saw from his former team and he enjoyed his trip around the bases.

The outfielder grounded out in his next at-bat, but he struck again a few innings later, cracking an RBI double off the Green Monster to increase the lead in the fifth. Verdugo put the finishing touches on the victory with an RBI single in the ninth, picking up three hits and driving in four of New York's eight runs on the night.

- Anthony Rizzo has been slowly but surely turning things around after a brutal start to the month of June. Following his homer on Thursday afternoon, the slugging first baseman reached base three times in this one, including an RBI single in the fifth. He's now quietly riding a three-game hitting streak and he's driven in a run in every game over that span.

- Luis Gil took the mound for the Yanks and he was cruising after being handed an early lead, striking out a pair over an easy first two innings of work. He was forced to battle through traffic over each of the next three innings, though, as he wasn't sharp and lost command of the strike zone. The rookie did well to settle down and limit the damage on the night, as he earned his ninth win of the season after allowing just one run on four hits while walking four and striking out six across five tough innings.

- Tommy Kahnle sweat his way through the top of the sixth before departing, walking the first two batters of the inning and working the count full on the next two batters. Lefty Caleb Ferguson then entered and struck out all four batters he faced across 1.1 perfect innings of work. Victor Gonzalez recorded two outs in the eighth before Michael Tonkin put the finishing touches on the victory, pushing his streak to 10 consecutive scoreless innings.

- Aaron Judge has been spectacular in the middle of things of late, but he came into the night fresh off a golden sombrero, and he struck out in each of his first two at-bats pushing his streak to six consecutive K's. He finally reached base with a walk in the fifth and then drove in a run with a double high off the Green Monster in the ninth.

MVP of the Game: Alex Verdugo

To no one's surprise, Verdugo had his hands all over a Yankees win in his first game against his former team, as he drove in three of the team's seven runs on the night.

He's now reached base in eight of his last 10 games and he's hitting a scorching hot .324 with three doubles and seven RBI over that span.

Here are some takeaways...

MVP of the Game: Alex Verdugo

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