MINNEAPOLIS -- If anyone needed a game-winning hit in extra innings, it was Aaron Hicks. 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). Stitched Patriots Jerseys . - Even with a new coach, the Denver Nuggets still love to push the basketball. Fake Patriots Jerseys . Sweeting scored two in the first and three in the second before Strong (4-4) got two back in the fourth. Sweeting then scored three in the fifth, two in the sixth and one in the seventh to grab a commanding 9-2 lead. https://www.patriotsjerseysale.com/. -- Jerel Worthy and his Michigan State teammates charged across the field, holding four fingers in the air while celebrating another sweet victory over their biggest rival. New England Patriots Gear . Radulov scored the lone goal in the shootout, and the Predators edged the Minnesota Wild 2-1 on Tuesday night to reach 100 points for the second time in three seasons and fourth in seven. Patriots Jerseys China . Inter Milan ended its five-match winless streak in all competitions by beating 10-man Bologna 3-1 on new manager Claudio Ranieris debut, while injury-plagued AC Milan edged Cesena 1-0 with an early goal from Clarence Seedorf. NEW YORK -- Daniel Carcillo scored the tiebreaking goal 4:36 into the third period, and the New York Rangers completed a two-game sweep of the outdoor series with a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders at frigid Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night. Building off their 7-3 win over New Jersey at the ballpark in the Bronx on Sunday, the Rangers took out another division rival under the lights in front of 50,027 fans. The temperature was 22 degrees when the first puck dropped at 7:45 p.m. with a single-digit wind-chill factor. It got progressively colder as the night went on. Benoit Pouliot also scored for the Rangers, who are 3-0 in their history while playing outside. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 30 shots while again adorning pinstriped pads in honour of the Yankees. The only goal he allowed was a late second-period tally to Brock Nelson that gave the Islanders a short-lived 1-0 lead. The Rangers evened the season series with the Islanders 2-2. The teams will play for the final time this season on Friday at Madison Square Garden. Wearing a ski cap with a pompom atop his mask, Evgeni Nabokov had 32 saves for the Islanders, who made their outdoor debut. Road teams are 9-1-1 in NHL outside games. Carcillo fired in a rebound of Dominic Moores shot for his third goal of the season, helping drop the Islanders to 0-3-1 in the last four games. With both teams struggling to control the puck early, it took nearly 39 minutes for the scoreless deadlock to be broken by the Islanders and then 40 seconds for the Rangers to get back even. The Islanders built up a big lead in shots, but couldnt get any past Lundqvist -- despite getting the first three power plays and a 2-minute stint of 4-on-4 play. When Islanders forward Kyle Okposo went off for holding, and took Rangers forward Rick Nash with him for embellishing with 9:49 left in the second period, the Islanders held a 21-10 edge in shots. By the time the period was over, the Rangers had cut it to 25-20. The Islanders grabbed a 1-0 lead with 1:27 left in the second, using a fine three-way passing play to go in front. Cal Clutterbuck managed to fling tthe puck from the left circle into the middle as he fell to the ice.dddddddddddd He connected with defenceman Matt Donovan, who quickly moved the pass to his right to Nelson, who fired a shot past Lundqvist for his 10th goal. Before the goal was announced to the cheering and shivering sold-out crowd, the Rangers tied it with Pouliots ninth of the season. Derick Brassard did hard work from the back edge of the left post, worked the puck free and slid it in front past the prone Nabokov who was down in the crease. Pouliot gathered it and scored into a fairly open net with 46.3 seconds remaining in the second. Both teams dealt with a bouncing puck during the scoreless first period, and Islanders forward Thomas Vanek had a puck hop over his stick from right in front of Lundqvist early in the second. Nabokov was playing in his first full game since returning on Monday from a lower-body injury that forced him to miss 10 games. He backed up Kevin Poulin in a 6-3 loss to Boston on Monday, but came on in relief for the third period and stopped the only shot he faced. He showed no signs of rust or difficulty playing out in the cold. Nabokov drank from a steaming cup at the bench during a break in the second period. Lundqvist looked comfortable at the other end, playing on the Yankee Stadium ice for the second time in four days. Since giving up three goals in the first period against New Jersey on Sunday following a pregame nap, Lundqvist allowed just one over the next five frames. While the Rangers had louder support in the stands, despite this being an Islanders home game, both sides were well represented and occasionally traded chants of "Lets Go Rangers!" and "Lets Go Islanders!" There were no visible signs of empty seats, even up in the far reaches of the upper deck that stretch into right-centre and left-centre field. NOTES: Okposo had a six-game point streak snapped. Nash had a five-game goal run broken. ... CeeLo Green performed between the first and second periods. He wore a long fur coat. ... The Islanders were 0 for 4 on the power play, including one at the end of the game ' ' '