MINNEAPOLIS -- The only way Aaron Hicks can top these highlight-show catches in centre field for Minnesota is to follow them by hitting a home run. Thats precisely what hes done, three times already this season. Despite the .165 batting average, this rookie has shown plenty of flash and potential. Hicks homered again and made another run-saving grab, helping Samuel Deduno and the Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-1 on Wednesday. "Hes confident right now. You can see it, a different attitude," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Its still not a perfect world for him yet, but were having fun watching him play baseball." Deduno (1-1) pitched into the eighth inning, the longest start for a Twins pitcher in more than a month, and gave up four hits and one run. He beat Marco Estrada (4-3), who was done in by a three-run first that sent the Brewers to their fifth straight loss. Theyre 5-21 in May. The night before in Milwaukee, Hicks had a home run and a double that set up the go-ahead run in the 14th inning. The rookie centre fielder also made a jumping catch at the warning track to take a homer from Carlos Gomez earlier in that game, prompting a respectful tip of the helmet by Gomez. "Its always fun catching or robbing a home run of another centre fielder," Hicks said with a smile, "because they know what its like." Hicks also hit a pair of home runs and saved a fly ball hit by Adam Dunn from clearing the wall here against Chicago on May 13. This time, Hicks snagged a sinking line drive by Rickie Weeks with a dive to end the fourth and keep Gomez from scoring. In the second inning, Hicks nearly stole a double from Gomez with a long run and leap at the top of the fence, but the ball fell out on his way down. "Hes killing us," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "Hes definitely a good defensive player. ... Offensively, weve thrown some fastballs and hes taken some good swings at it." Gomez scored after consecutive groundouts, the only damage done against Deduno, the lanky right-hander recalled from Triple-A Rochester last week. He gave a lagging rotation and a tired bullpen a big lift. Deduno is one of the hardest throwers the Twins have, but he also might be their wildest. His control problems surfaced dangerously in the eighth when Jean Segura, who had six hits Tuesday, was plunked on the left wrist. Segura writhed in pain but stayed in the game. Then Ryan Braun walked, and Casey Fien relieved. Deduno left to a standing ovation, a rarity at Target Field for a starting pitcher over the last three years. Fien immediately induced a double-play grounder by Aramis Ramirez, and then first baseman Chris Parmelee finished the inning with a tumbling catch over the railing and into the dugout of a foul ball popped up by Gomez. Dedunos hands were clasped together in a praying position as he watched Parmelee, before reacting with a shout and a pump of his arm to cheer the grab. Earlier, when Hicks sprinted forward and caught the liner just before it grazed the grass, Deduno raised his hands above his head in celebration. "This is me. When the guys are doing a great job ... my arms are going to be up," he said. Deduno walked two and hit three batters while striking out three. "He can wing it all over the place. I think he makes hitters very comfortable to be in there," Gardenhire said. The last time a Twins starter lasted this long was on April 28, when Kevin Correia went eight scoreless innings against Texas. Correia also finished seven innings on May 14, but he gave up four runs in a loss that night to the White Sox. Glen Perkins, who let the Brewers tie the game in the ninth the night before for his second blown chance this season, pitched a scoreless ninth this time for his 11th save. Jonathan Lucroy led off with a single, but Yuniesky Betancourt and Weeks struck out. Estrada had a rough start, negating the fine work he did in the middle innings. Ryan Doumit hit a two-run, two-out double to put the Twins in front to stay, and Chris Herrmann followed with an RBI single in his first at-bat of the season. Herrmann was called up from Rochester recently, too. "Weve all been struggling so you want to go out there and give your team the best chance to win. When you give up three runs in the first inning, it kind of kills you," said Estrada, who completed seven innings with seven hits and four runs against him. He struck out five. "Its hard to bounce back, especially when the other guy is locked in." NOTES: Brewers 1B/OF Corey Hart is closer to a rehab assignment for his right knee. "Every day he gets a little more confident and comfortable," Roenicke said. ... Cleared from his concussion and taken off the DL in the afternoon, Twins 3B Trevor Plouffe was scratched from the lineup because of a cramp in his left calf he felt while running before the game. ... Former Twins RH Kyle Lohse (1-5, 3.76 ERA) pitches for the Brewers to finish the series on Thursday, opposite RH P.J. Walters (1-0, 3.00 ERA). Nike Air Force 1 Billig . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Nike Sf Air Force 1 Norge . "Hes going to have hip surgery on Jan. 7, and hell be expected to rehabilitate for four to six months beyond that," Canucks general manager Mike Gillis said Friday in an interview. http://www.airforce1norge.com/ . World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia won the gold medal with 237.71 points, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch followed at 208.45 and Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third at 187. Nike Air Force 1 Norge Prisjakt .ca. Hey Kerry, big fan of yours, just finished reading your book. I think that we all saw the Canucks/Flames line brawl just after puck drop. It was obvious that something was about to happen, even to the referees because the fourth lines were on to start. Nike Roshe One Norge . Murray beat Sam Querrey 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3 to clinch Britains opening-round victory against the United States on Sunday at Petco Park. "Im proud of the way Im playing just now, because I had to do a lot of work to get back to where I want to be," Murray said after celebrating with his teammates on the red clay court in a temporary stadium in left field of the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- The underdog of soccer underdogs, D.C. United, has advanced to the U.S. Open Cup Final. Uniteds 2-0 victory over the Chicago Fire in Wednesdays semifinal accomplished that despite the worst record in Major League Soccer. D.C. scored its fourth win of the tournament. It has three victories in MLS competition this season, along with 15 losses and four ties, but its unbeaten in the U.S. Soccer Federations all-comers tournament. United will visit Real Salt Lake in the final on Oct. 1. The outcome made up for a 4-1 loss to Chicago in MLS play on the same field on July 20. The Fire outclassed D.C. from start to finish. "It was a spanking," said United forward Dwayne De Rosario. "It was tough even to watch." De Rosario was absent for that game, recovering from an adductor strain. Fully healed, he came back to action last week, and scored the first of Uniteds two goals Wednesday. "I wanted to set the tone," De Rosario said. He did, pouncing on a ball goalkeeper Sean Johnson bobbled, taking two steps to the left, and booting it home from 4 yards in the 44th minute. Then came Nick DeLeon, Uniteds other threat, and also injured until recently. He scored in the 48th minute, ripping a low 13-yard shot to Johnsons left after slaloming through a pair of defenders. D.C.s Joe Willis made six saves. "t;The last two games, weve looked like a team," United coach Ben Olsen said.dddddddddddd. "Weve been able to understand this is extremely important. Our best shot at a trophy is in the Open Cup." The Fire pushed hard in the last 20 minutes, but failed to score. Willis made a difficult save on Alex in the 76th minute, then watched Austin Berrys deflected shot carom off the goal post a minute later. In the first 27 minutes, Willis solved Chris Rolfe and Alex, after which Uniteds midfield began to take command. But the goals were still stunners. "They got a little bit of fortune tonight," Fire midfielder Jeff Larentowicz said. "They score (the first goal) on a mistake, and after their second, I dont know how we dont score." For United, playing for a championship in a dismal season is heartening. "Its coming together a little late, but it feels good," DeLeon said. "Three wins (in MLS), but were playing for a championship nonetheless. "You get rewarded sometimes." Neither Chicago nor D.C. United is above .500 in MLS competition, but advanced to the U.S. Open Cup semifinals by beating a combination of MLS and lower-level professional squads. United had beaten Richmond of the USL Pro circuit, and MLS foes Philadelphia and New England, to earn the right to play Chicago. ' ' '