Evan Longoria Saves Rays With Walk-Off Homer

Tampa Bay Rays newsThe Tampa Bay Rays  were one away from a crushing defeat  when Evan Longoria smashed a two-out home run in the bottom of the ninth  to beat the San Diego Padres 8-7.

Tampa Bay led 6-2 most of the game but lost the lead in the seventh when Jesus Guzman  hit a pinch-hit  grand slam to tie the game. For Longoria it was his ninth home run of the year and he is hitting .336  with 26 RBI.

After Guzman’s slam, Carlos Quentin walked again in the same inning, this time with the bases loaded against Jamey Wright to force in the lead run that made it 7-6.

Jeremy Hellickson retired 16 straight batters after giving up three hits, including Chase Headley‘s two-run homer, in the first,  before falling apart in the seventh

James Loney hit a two-run homer while Yunel Escobar drove in two more runs for Tampa Bay, who look to sweep the three-game series on Sunday

Fantasy Plays: Unless you are willing to make a trade Longoria is probably not available to you,  James Loney .376, .556  against left-handers and isn’t slowing down.  Loney won’t give you the home run power is expect out of a first basemen but he will help you in batting average and is held by only 22%  of fantasy managers and ESPN leagues.