Alex Verdugo Shines in Fenway Return, Leading Yankees to 8-1 Victory Over Red Sox

Alex Verdugo hit a two-run homer and drove in four runs in his return to Fenway Park, while Luis Gil struck out six batters, leading the MLB-leading New York Yankees to an 8-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.

Verdugo, who spent four seasons with the Red Sox before being traded to the Yankees in December in a rare deal between the AL East rivals, made a big impact in his return.

“To come over here, do what we did as a team and obviously the swing that I put on in the first to give us the lead, it was a big moment," Verdugo said. "It felt like a lot of relief for me, and also just a lot of anticipation for this matchup.

“It was pure adrenaline, just fired up. Wasn’t really expecting to swing at the first pitch and to put it out of the ballpark and give us the early 2-0 lead was big. I kind of let a little yell out when I rounded first, and when I hit second, I saw my dugout going crazy, so I just kind of lost it again.”

Verdugo launched the first pitch he saw from Boston’s right-hander Brayan Bello to straightaway center field for his ninth home run of the season, scoring Juan Soto, who had doubled. He later added an RBI double in the fifth inning and a run-scoring single in the ninth.

“That’s really impressive,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I’ve been there, where you go back and play, and from my experience, it’s odd, it’s hard to normalize things. He was very calm before the game. In my mind, maybe he was a little nervous. But, he came right out and delivered a punch on the first pitch and didn’t stop. Pretty impressive performance, knowing it meant a lot to him.”

Gil (9-1) pitched five innings, allowing one run on four hits with four walks, throwing a season-high 104 pitches. In his last nine starts, Gil has an 8-0 record with a 1.14 ERA, surrendering just seven earned runs over 55 1/3 innings.

The Yankees (50-22) scored in the fourth when Giancarlo Stanton singled and Anthony Rizzo walked. After Gleyber Torres grounded into a double play, it appeared Bello had escaped the inning on Oswaldo Cabrera’s grounder to first baseman Dominic Smith. However, Bello’s error while attempting to cover first base allowed Stanton to score.

The Yankees added two more runs in the fifth. Anthony Volpe singled to start the inning, and Aaron Judge drew a one-out walk. Verdugo’s double scored Volpe and advanced Judge to third. After Giancarlo Stanton struck out, Bello was replaced by left-hander Cam Booser, who gave up a run-scoring single to Rizzo.

“We were talking about getting ahead, stay ahead,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Bello’s outing. “I don’t think that was the case. He fell behind to nine hitters and I think six or seven of them got on base. They have a good offense, but with that, we have to be more aggressive in the strike zone.”

Bello (6-4) pitched 4 2/3 innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on six hits and three walks while striking out five.

“I think the start was going well and I got out of rhythm,” Bello said. “They were hitting the ball in the big moments and I think that was the key.”

In the ninth inning, Yankees’ No. 9 hitter Jose Trevino hit a solo home run off right-hander Chase Anderson, marking his seventh of the season. With two outs, Soto walked and scored on a double by Judge. Verdugo then singled to drive in Judge.

New York’s bullpen, featuring Tommy Kahnle, Caleb Ferguson, Victor González, and Michael Tonkin, combined for four scoreless innings with eight strikeouts. Ferguson struck out all four batters he faced.

Boston’s only run came in the fourth inning when Gil issued consecutive walks to Rafael Devers and Masataka Yoshida to start the inning. Devers scored on Enmanuel Valdez’s double.