One of the biggest rivalries in sports was back for a four-game series at Fenway Park, as the New York Yankees took the first-game honors against the Boston Red Sox by a score of 6 at 5, Thursday evening.

The visitors had an impressive five-point drive in the third set. Josh Donaldson practically produced all of them, hitting a homer as the bases were loaded. The next hitter, Aaron Hicks, also ejected an offering from pitcher Josh Winckowski out of bounds.

The Red Sox response came entirely from the stick of Rafael Devers, who hit two long balls, respectively in the third (two runs) and fifth inning (three runs), each time at the expense of Gerrit Cole (8-2), who still did enough to add the victory to his record, he who passed seven batters in the mitt, in six innings of work.

Justin Verlander can't stop racking up wins

In Houston, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander continued his dream season, earning his 11th victory of the season by helping the Astros defeat the Kansas City Royals 5-2.

At 39, Verlander (11-3) is the winningest starting pitcher of the 2022 season so far.

To add this new gain to his record, he made eight opponents bite the dust. He was finally retired after six innings of work, when his team had given him a 3-2 lead. Of the two runs he allowed, on seven hits and two walks, only one was earned.

The Astros' response came in the fifth inning. Jose Altuve first kicked out a Kris Bubic (1-6) offering out of bounds, while Martin Maldonado was on the trails, tying it 2-2. Two batters later, Yordan Alvarez imitated his teammate, hitting a solo homer to give his team the lead.

Altuve finally completed his game with three RBIs, he who also had a sacrifice fly in the eighth round at bat for his team, while Aledmys Diaz had the other run for the winners.

The Nationals hold back Schwarber, but not the Phillies

In Philadelphia, Phillies outfielder Kyle Schwarber was unable to extend his impressive streak after hitting two home runs in each of his last two games, but the crowd favorites still got the better of the Nationals of Washington by the score of 5 to 3.

Schwarber still pushed Matt Vierling to the plate in the fourth inning, as he compromised by hitting a ground ball to second baseman.

Designated hitter Darick Hall was the most productive for the winners, having two hits, including a solo homer, driving in two runs overall.