A handful of leftovers from yet another run-starved game in Boston:

— Aaron Hicks has played five games in Fenway Park and has never faced a left-handed pitcher. So he knows how big right field is at Fenway Park, the deepest part of the ballpark. It's also part of the reason he's now 3-for-15 in Boston. "It's their style of pitching. They pitch you in, and once you pull the ball, it's going to the deepest part," Hicks said. That's what Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz did to him Tuesday, he said. "He was throwing a lot of off-speed pitches, trying to get me out front," Hicks said. "Then late in the count, bust me inside with fastballs." Still, Hicks nearly made the strategy fail, clobbering a fastball leading off the eighth that would have landed in the Twins' bullpen if Rusney Castillo hadn't reached over the wall to bring it back.

— Mike Pelfrey is enjoying one of the best stretches of his career, and certainly his best as a Twin. Pelfrey allowed just one run over seven innings on Tuesday, the third straight start he's given up just one. It's also his sixth quality start of the season, tying Kyle Gibson for the most on the Twins. Yet he fell to 4-2 after taking the 1-0 loss. He complimented the Twins' defense afterward, citing a handful of great plays. Danny Santana helped snuff a second-inning threat by making a perfect throw to the plate while on the run, getting Pablo Sandoval trying to score. Brian Dozier also made a diving stop for an out, and a sliding stop to turn a grounder into a double play. And Eddie Rosario made a running catch in left field. "I only struck out one guy in seven innings, so these boys had to get 20 outs behind me," Pelfrey said. "They played great defense. It's always needed."

— Also of note, especially to writers on deadline: The game lasted just 2:21, easily the fastest of Pelfrey's Twins career. In fact, it was 12 minutes quicker than his previous best as a Twin, and ranked among the five fastest games in his 197-game career.

— Lost in the lack of offense was Torii Hunter extending his hitting streak to 10 games, the 20th streak of his career that long. Hunter also had a 14-game hitting streak for Detroit last season. His career-longest was a 23-game streak back in 2007, his final season of his first stint with the Twins. Hunter also played his 1,270th career game with Minnesota, moving him past Justin Morneau for eighth=most in franchise history.