Here are three thoughts following the Twins' 6-4 victory over the Red Sox:

YOUR FIRST PLACE MINNESOTA TWINS: Yup, with the Twins winning and Kansas City losing. Both teams sit at the top of the AL Central with 28-18 records. The Twins are the hottest team in the AL right now and play host to Toronto this weekend. ``It's all about perspective," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. ``We certainly enjoy the fact that our fortunes have been good as of late. The only day the standings matter is the last day of the season, we all know that. We're pitching well, our offense has been rolling, our defense is coming around. There's a lot of things to be optimistic about. We keep preaching, all you have is the next game."

BOYER RESTS: Blaine Boyer had pitched in three of the last four games, so Molitor was determined to give him a day off on Wednesday. So Boyer took it easy as Ryan Pressly Aaron Thompson and Michael Tonkin got through the eighth. It wasn't clean, Pressly got two outs, Thompson gave up a single and was replaced with Tonkin, who walked Hanley Ramirez and suddenly was looking at David Ortiz as the potential lead run. But Tonkin got Ortiz to tap to third to end the inning. ``We has to mix and match with the bullpen a little bit," Molitor said. That shows you how much he trusts Boyer, because he would have faced righties and lefties in that inning, while Molitor matched up with the other relievers.

HICKS HOMERS: He's stolen potential runs with his glove, so it's about time Aaron Hicks drove in some runs. His two-run homer in the fourth made it 5-2 and was needed as Dustin Pedroia ended up with a second., two-run homer later. It was Hicks' first homer in 196 plat appearances going back to April 24 of last season. ``I was looking for something offspeed there," Hicks said, ``Normally when there is a runner on first or in scoring position they go to the offspeed. So I waited for the change up, got one up in the zone and didn't miss it."