MINNEAPOLIS -- If anyone needed a game-winning hit in extra innings, it was Aaron Hicks. Cheap Jerseys . The once-prized Minnesota Twins prospect was hitting just .161 and was challenged by manager Ron Gardenhire and acting general manager Rob Antony the day before to take a more professional approach to the game. Hicks responded with an RBI single in the bottom of the 10th and Phil Hughes struck out eight in six innings to help the Twins beat the Boston Red Sox 4-3 in the series finale on Thursday. Many think the only reason Hicks was not sent down already was because of the injuries that have decimated an already thin outfield group. Gardenhire and Antony both said they didnt feel Hicks was doing the necessary homework behind the scenes to be ready every day. "Maybe preparing is something I need to try to do more," Hicks said. "Try things to be able to make my game better and have an edge on the game." All-Star closer Glen Perkins blew his second save of the season, giving up a two-run single to Will Middlebrooks with the bases loaded that tied the game in the ninth. But Kurt Suzuki doubled down the left-field line and Hicks lined a 3-2 pitch to left field off of Andrew Miller (1-2) to win it. "Its such a big hit in a big situation," Hicks said. "It just comes down to how much heart you have in the game. Thats the kind of player I am. I like to play with passion and I dont like the way Ive been playing so far. But its something that sometimes youve got to go through in order to be able to make that next step into becoming a better player." Mike Carp had two hits and an RBI for the Red Sox, but David Ortiz was a quiet 1 for 4 with a single after going deep twice in each of the first two games of the series. Hughes gave up five hits and no walks and Chris Parmelee hit a two-run homer for the Twins, who took two of three from the defending champions. Suzuki and Eduardo Escobar each had three hits and Brian Duensing (1-1) picked up the win. Clay Buchholz gave up three runs on 10 hits and struck out six in six innings for the Red Sox. The Red Sox hitters had been doing well recently, with Ortizs personal home run derby contributing to 28 runs over their previous four games. But Hughes put those hot bats on ice on a day when the temperature was 46 degrees at first pitch. Hughes knows Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and the Red Sox lineup well from years of facing them while he was in the Yankees rotation. "He pitches more comfortable here, it seems," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "They threw a lot of strikes, didnt issue many bases on balls. Didnt have a whole lot going for the first eight." Hughes retired nine of the first 10 hitters he faced, won a 14-pitch battle with Xander Bogaerts to end the fifth inning and finished with more strikeouts against the Red Sox than he had in his previous 22 appearances against them. "Im going after them," Hughes said. "Thats been my game plan and has continued to be. Just attack with my fastball and get some flyouts, some strikeouts, swings and misses. I just tried to stay aggressive the entire time." Gardenhire said he hopes Hicks big hit will be the jumpstart his young centre fielder needs. "Hes working at it. Thats all weve asked him to do, study and work and hes doing that," Gardenhire said. "Thats a big hit for him. Nice to see him smile in a big situation like that." NOTES: Farrell gave OFs Grady Sizemore and Shane Victorino the day off. Farrell said the oft-injured Sizemore is doing fine and would play a lot this weekend while Victorino is resting a sore left knee. ... The Twins gave SS Danny Santana the day off to rest some sore legs, Gardenhire said. ... University of Minnesota football coach Jerry Kill threw out the first pitch shortly after announcing a $100,000 donation to start the Chasing Dreams foundation for epilepsy research. ... The Red Sox head home to open a series against Detroit on Friday. LHP Jon Lester (4-4, 2.75) will start for Boston against Max Scherzer (5-1, 2.04). ... The Twins start a series against Seattle on Friday. RHP Kyle Gibson (3-3, 4.74) will start against Mariners RHP Chris Young (3-0, 2.63). Jerseys Cheap . The Browns have relaxed their media limitations to see rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel practice. Cheap Jerseys China . The Astros took two of three after losing 15 straight series to the Rangers. Houston overcame a four-run deficit to win. Dexter Fowler singled with one out in the ninth, Jason Castro drew a walk and Dominguez hit a long fly ball off Nick Martinez (0-1).Winnipeg Jets 2 Carolina Hurricanes 1 (Jets 28-25-5, Road 14-14-1) – With the win the Jets move to three games above the five hundred mark for the first time this year, while getting their road record to an even .500. The Jets have now won nine of their last 11, and five of their last six road games. With the win they moved to within two points of Vancouver in the west, the Canucks holding down the eighth spot. Vancouver lost in Boston, while the other big game saw Dallas win in Phoenix. The Jets do jump ahead of Nashville, and are now tied with Dallas, one point behind Phoenix. It was the Jets 33rd one-goal game of the season. The first period was scoreless with some careless play by both teams leading to a number of scoring chances, forcing both Ondrej Pavelec and Anton Khudobin to make a number of outstanding saves. The Jets outshot the Hurricanes 11-9. The only goal of the second period came from Andrew Ladd, his 13th of the season. Ladd now 3-7-10 in the last ten games. Ladd buried a rebound of a Micheal Frolik shot, with Bryan Little also picking up an assist, giving him 13 points in the last 14 games. A key part of the game later in the period with Zach Bogosian off for holding, the Jets were nailed with too many men on the ice. So for the eighth time this season the Jets were down two men (51 seconds) and for the eighth straight time they killed it off. Other than a shot off the post, the Hurricanes did not have a shot on goal on the power play. Adam Pardy made a number of key plays including a key blocked shot. Shots in the second were 12-9 Carolina. Riley Nash tied the game early in the third, setting the stage the game winning goal with 1:03 left in regulation. Blake Wheeler started the play with a cross blue line pass to Jacob Trouba in the Carolina end. Trouba took the puck all the way around the Hurricanes goal, tried to get a pass to Mark Scheifele in front, but instead found Chris Thorburn at the edge of the circle who scored his second of the year for the win. Wheeler has 15 points in the last 14 games, Trouba nine points in the last 10 games. cheapauthenticjerseys.us.com. Final shots were 29-27 in favour of Carolina. Pavelec is now 7-2 in his last nine games, allowing 20 goals against, including six games where he has allowed two or less. Al Montoya has played the other two in the 9-2 Jets run, allowing one goal in each. Bogosian for the fifth straight game led the Jets in ice time at 25:01, Trouba next at 24:13. Little had five shots on goal, four of which were great scoring chances. Face-offs very much favoured the Hurricanes, who finished at 64%. 37 hits for the Jets, Trouba leading the way with five. Trouba was a plus-1 and is now a plus-14 in the last 11 games to lead the team, Scheifele was a plus-1 and is now a plus-12 in the last 11 games and is second on the team. "It wasnt one of our best games, but we found a way," commented Coach Paul Maurice post-game. "The effort was there, our structure was good, our goalie was good. Huge penalty kills. Just wasnt anything easy about the game but we handled it well." There was a lot of line matching with the Hurricanes wanting Manny Malhotra against the Little line and Eric Staal against the Scheifele line. "Scheifele is Winnipegs dirty little secret, hes a pretty good player. I have no problem putting Scheifele out against anyone." Trouba struggled early in the game handling the puck, but Coach Maurice kept putting him out. "He had a couple of shifts that were unusual. But he wants the puck on his stick with a chance to win the game. He took it low with his head up, and he can make those big plays. Hes been on the ice for a lot of big goals." On the penalty kill, "We got bodies and sticks where they needed to be. A big block by Pardy, that shot was a bomb." Jets continue their four-game trip in Washington Thursday as for the second straight game they renew the old South East Division rivalry. (TSN Jets, TSN 1290). The pre-Olympic schedule concludes in St. Louis Saturday afternoon. (TSN Jets, TSN 1290). cheap jerseys from chinacheap jerseys ' ' '
