Perez allowed four hits and one walk while striking out seven in Sunday's spring start against the Twins.
Perez, who was unable to get out of the first inning during his spring debut last Tuesday, was much improved Sunday. The left-hander told Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com that he followed the advice of Red Sox pitching instructors, who told Perez to focus on location, not velocity. Perez had initially been penciled in as Boston's No. 5 starter but has since moved up in the wake of the David Price trade and Chris Sale's elbow setback.