Park homers as Twins blank Rays

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Rays ace Chris Archer, in his final tune-up before his Opening Day start against the Yankees on Sunday, tossed three scoreless innings against the Twins, but ByungHo Park homered in the seventh to lift Minnesota to a 1-0 win on Tuesday at Hammond Stadium.
Archer allowed one hit, a double that speedster Byron Buxton legged out on a routine hit to left in the first inning, and walked one with four strikeouts. He finishes Grapefruit League play with a 1.98 ERA.
"I felt really good, felt really good," said Archer of Tuesday's outing, which capped a nice spring. "I came in with a couple of goals, and I think I've achieved those goals. And I'm looking forward to April 2 [for Opening Day] and kicking this thing off right."

Park crushed his team-leading fifth homer of the year to right-center off Rays right-hander Austin Pruitt.
"It's less of a mechanical thing than a timing thing with the bat," Park said through a translator of his success this spring. "My timing has been great at the plate. It's worked out really well for me."
Right-hander Nick Tepesch was also solid for the Twins, throwing four scoreless innings, scattering three hits and a walk. Tepesch, who is expected to give the Twins depth at Triple-A Rochester, had a 4.41 ERA this spring.
Twins Rule 5 Draft pick Justin Haley, competing for a spot in the bullpen as a Rule 5 pick, threw three scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 4.96.
Twins first baseman Joe Mauer turned two double plays, as twice the Rays hit a hard line drive to him with a runner at first to end the inning. Mauer also doubled in the fourth but was stranded at second.

Rays reliever Danny Farquhar threw a scoreless fourth, while right-hander Chase Whitley tossed two scoreless frames.
Rays Up Next: The Rays will host the Orioles Wednesday afternoon in a 1:05 p.m. ET contest at Charlotte Sports Park. Erasmo Ramírez will start for the Rays. Also scheduled to see work are Xavier Cedeño, Alex Colome, Jaime Schultz, Tommy Hunter, and Jumbo Diaz. Watch for Schultz, who is a bullpen hopeful. He is a swing-and-miss pitcher with a 97-mph fastball.
Twins Up Next: Right-hander Ervin Santana, who will start for the Twins on Opening Day against the Royals, makes his final start of the spring on Wednesday against the Red Sox at JetBlue Park at 12:05 p.m. CT. Closer Brandon Kintzler, Taylor Rogers and Matt Belisle are also scheduled to pitch.
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