ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Minnesota Twins had a chance to move past Tampa Bay and out of last place in the American League, but they ran into the Rays at their best.Evan Longoria, Bobby Wilson and Logan Forsythe all homered to back Chris Archers six strong innings as the Rays beat the Twins 7-3 on Saturday night.A win would have pulled Minnesota a half-game ahead of Tampa Bay 2 1/2 months after the Twins dismal 11-34 start. But at 44-66, they still have the worst record in the AL, 1 1/2 games behind the Rays 45-64.Archer (6-15) won for the third time in his last 15 starts, giving up one run and three hits and striking out seven to regain the American League lead in strikeouts with 168.Hes been trying to find ways to win games this year and tonight it seemed like he had it going, said Twins manager Paul Molitor. No question Archer was the difference in the game.Archer won for the first time in his last nine starts at home.I feel lately Ive been pretty efficient, even when Im not getting a lot of strikeouts, he said. Tonight the sixth inning got away from me a little bit but Im not even worried about it. Six was all the team needed tonight. I definitely wanted to go deeper but its not all about me, its about getting a team win.Alex Colome got the final two outs for his 27th save after the Twins rallied for two runs in the ninth. The Rays clinched their first winning homestand of the season, improving to 6-3 with the finale on Sunday.Longoria and Wilson homered off Minnesota starter Jose Berrios, who gave up four runs and six hits in five innings.Berrios (2-2) said Archers strong start added no additional pressure.I go out there and compete with my team, he said. Tonight that didnt happen but I tried to do my best. ... I made two or three mistakes tonight.Longorias 24th home run gave the Rays a 2-0 lead in the third. Wilson, re-acquired by the Rays off waivers from Texas on Thursday, homered in his second at bat and drove in another run with a single. Forsythe added his 11th home run in the seventh off reliever Trevor May.Brian Dozier drove in the Twins first run with a double in the sixth, extending his career-high hitting streak to 15 games.It is the longest current streak in the AL and the longest by a Twin since Joe Mauers 16-game streak two years ago.HOMERLESS FOR A NIGHTThe Twins, who have 29 home runs from Dozier and Max Kepler alone since June 19, went homerless on Saturday night. Molitor still doesnt consider them a home run-hitting team. We have athletic players, too, guys that can run, guys that can spray the ball around, run the bases, he said. Youll take the home runs, but I think overall, a consistent offense in terms of some of other things probably plays better over the long season.TRAINERS ROOMTwins: 3B Trevor Plouffe, on the disabled list with a fractured left rib, homered in the seventh inning for Triple-A Rochester to break up a perfect game Saturday night. The Twins expect to activate Plouffe as early as Monday.Rays: SS Matt Duffy (strained left Achilles tendon) plans to make his Tampa Bay debut Friday night at the New York Yankees. Duffy, acquired from San Francisco on Monday, said running the bases in a rehab game Friday with Class A Charlotte felt almost like nothing happened. ... The Rays placed OF Desmond Jennings (bruised left knee) on the 15-day disabled day and reinstated OF Mikie Mahtook (fractured left hand) from the DL. ... OF Oswaldo Arcia (strained right elbow) and 1B Logan Morrison (strained right forearm) could be ready for minor league games in the next week.UP NEXTTwins: RHP Kyle Gibson (3-6) will pitch the series finale. He is 0-4 with an 8.85 ERA in four starts against the Rays.Rays: RHP Matt Andriese (6-2) expects to be held to a pitch count around 80 in his second start since spending more than a month in the bullpen.Michael Gallup Jersey . A forerunning sled crashed into the worker Thursday at the Sanki Sliding Center. The unidentified worker broke both legs and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. Jason Witten Womens Jersey . Fellow centre Pavel Datsyuk remains out because of a concussion. Zetterberg has 11 goals and 19 assists for a team-high 30 points, and Datsyuk has a team-high 12 goals and 11 assists. https://www.cowboyssportsgoods.com/Womens-Ezekiel-Elliott-Inverted-Jersey/ . "No difference at all," chirped U.S. roommate and linemate James van Riemsdyk. "Its still the same cranky Phil. Trysten Hill Cowboys Jersey . A knee to the thigh might have stung him the most, but his sixth straight double-double made up for the brief burst of pain. Leighton Vander Esch Youth Jersey . Hazard cut in from the left and scored with a swerving right-footed shot for ninth goal of the season, which proved to be enough for the victory despite Chelseas forwards again lacking a cutting edge up front.Everything was set up for a great start to the home schedule. The Denver Nuggets led Portland by two points in the final seconds Oct. 29, and one more stop would give them a 2-0 record and a win in their home opener.A defensive breakdown led to Damian Lillards wide-open layup to send it into overtime and the Trail Blazers went on to win and spoil the night for Denver fans.Nearly eight weeks later, the Nuggets have a chance to exact revenge when the teams meet Thursday night at Pepsi Center.Both teams are trying to reverse a downturn to their seasons. The Blazers (13-14) got a big win against Oklahoma City on Tuesday to end a four-game losing streak while Denver (9-16) had one of its worst outings in a blowout loss in Dallas on Monday.Portland held Thunder superstar Russell Westbrook in check in the 114-95 victory Tuesday, building some important momentum before heading to Denver.I think our minds was right, Damian Lillard told The Oregonian. We knew we needed to come in and get a win (before) going back on the road again.The Trail Blazers face a team struggling to save its season just a quarter of the way through the schedule. The Nuggets lost eight of their last 11, none more disappointing than the 112-92 loss in Dallas to wrap up a six-game road trip. The Mavericks, despite having the fewest wins in the NBA, dominated the game. They scored 65 in the first half against a seemingly non-existent Denver defense.Our one-on-one defense is pathetic right now, Nuggets coach Michael Malone told The Denver Post. We dont take pride in it. We allow guys just to back us down and score way too easy.The defense might gget a boost against Portland.dddddddddddd Guard Gary Harris may return after missing the last 16 games with a foot injury. He missed 20 games overall with the foot and groin injuries and said Wednesday he has a pretty good chance of playing against the Trail Blazers.His return bolsters the perimeter defense, but how much he plays is a question. He has been out since Nov. 12 and conditioning is an issue. However, having to go against the backcourt of Lillard and C.J. McCollum, the Nuggets can use all available bodies against the Trail Blazers.For Portland, a sixth straight win against Denver will help it get pointed in the right direction. The win over the first-place Thunder was nice, but the Trail Blazers want to get some momentum going before heading to Golden State on Saturday night.Portland should know by Thursday if it will have forward Al-Farouq Aminu back. He was a late scratch against Oklahoma City with a sore back initially hurt against Memphis last week, and with the Trail Blazers having played Monday the quick turnaround prompted him to be in street clothes.The Trail Blazers may not need him against the Nuggets, who are struggling with ball security and consistency. If Denver wants to make a serious run at its first playoff berth in four years, it has to start at home Thursday.You just throw this one out the window, Emmanuel Mudiay told The Denver Post after Mondays loss. We played horrible. ... But we got to let this one go and try to move forward in a positive way. ' ' '