NEW YORK — Three extras from the Twins' eighth loss in their last nine games against New York:

Aaron Hicks had hit as many home runs in Yankee Stadium as a Twin — two — as he had as a Yankee. Nice of the Twins to help him get past that statistic, wasn't it?

Hicks lined a Buddy Boshers pitch just a foot or two over the left-field wall in the eighth inning, his third home run as a Yankee, all at home, and his first ever off the team that drafted him, developed him, and traded him here last November.

It was Hicks' first home run in 99 at-bats, and his first against a lefthander since Sept. 6 of last season. The switch-hitter now has 12 career home runs batting left-handed, and 11 batting from the right, though he has twice as many at-bats vs. righthanders.

Hicks wasn't the only player to strike back against his former club on Friday. Eduardo Nunez followed hits by Kurt Suzuki and Byron Buxton with a sharp single up the middle in the third inning, scoring both teammates to give the Twins an early 2-0 lead.

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Tommy Milone was understandably disappointed in his return to the majors after spending six weeks pitching well at Rochester. The lefthander gave up six hits, walked two and retired only eight batters, the third time in his last nine starts for the Twins he has failed to finish four innings.

"Command, really," he said of his problem getting ahead of Yankee hitters. "I felt pretty good coming out of the gate. Maybe a little too good. In the second inning, I just didn't feel the same. My command wasn't as good."

And he knows he made a big mistake by not covering first base when Joe Mauer was handcuffed by a potential double-play grounder from Aaron Hicks.

"I should have been there," he said. "I guess I just paused and then it's just too late."

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Mauer's error was understandable, Molitor said. In fact, he marveled at the fact that the veteran first baseman has committed only two errors (just one this season) in nearly a full year.

"He was screened by the runner just a hair, and that ball that comes out of a right-handed hitter's uniform, when [the batter] gets deep, it kind of gets on you [fast]," Molitor said. "He got his glove on it but he was only able to knock it down."