Park connects for a sky-high homer in Twins' 5-4 win over Tampa Bay

PORT CHARLOTTE, FLA. – When Byung Ho Park connected with Jake Odorizzi's fastball in the first inning Sunday, the Twins slugger didn't think he got enough of it to send it over the fence.

"I made solid contact," Park said, "but I wasn't sure it was going to go out of the park because the wind was blowing pretty hard."

But the towering fly ball kept carrying. Rays outfielders Desmond Jennings and Mike Mahtook met at the wall but could only look up as the ball hit a rail just to the left of the tiki bar in left-center. It was a grand slam that sent the Twins on their way to a 5-4 victory over Tampa Bay on Sunday in a spring training game at Charlotte Sports Park.

Park, in his ninth Grapefruit League at-bat with his new team, showed some of the power that made him a superstar in the Korean Baseball Association.

"I saw it off the bat, and I was one of the first ones yelling," Twins righthander Kyle Gibson said. "So it was pretty exciting."

Odorizzi struck out the first two batters of the inning but walked Carlos Quentin and Kennys Vargas. Eddie Rosario hit a grounder that was booted by Tampa Bay shortstop Tim Beckham, setting the stage for Park to park one.

When asked if Sunday's sky-high home run is the way he hit them in South Korea, Park simply replied, "That tends to happen."

Tampa Bay made it 4-1 in the third on a sacrifice fly by Jennings — an unearned run off reliever Glen Perkins. Park scored on Eduardo Nunez's single in the fourth to make it 5-1.

The Rays scored three runs in the ninth off Aaron Thompson before Jake Reed came on to get the final out of the game.

La VELLE E. NEAL III