Yunel Escobar came up big on multiple occasions for the Tampa Bay Rays, leading his team to a 7-5 victory in extra innings over the Houston Astros on Independence Day.
Tampa Bay started off the game with an early 1-0 lead in the first, coming on a groundout by Evan Longoria that would allow Desmond Jennings to score from third.
Houston would respond with back-to-back runs in the fourth and fifth, due in part to a Brett Wallace solo shot in the fourth and a Jake Elmore sac fly in the fifth that would score Brandon Barnes and give the Astros a 2-0 lead.
Following a Jose Lobaton fielder’s choice that allowed Sam Fuld to score, Escobar would approach the plate and slug a two-run double to deep center to extend the lead to 5-2.
However, Wallace would respond with his second homer of the afternoon, this time a three-run shot in the bottom of the eighth, tying the game at 5-5 and eventually forcing the game into extras.
It would be Escobar who would come up big for the Rays again, slugging another double in the top of the 11th, this time to deep right, scoring Lobaton and giving Tampa Bay the go-ahead lead. Escobar would later come around to score on a wild pitch by Wesley Wright, the second time he scored on a wild pitch in the game.
Escobar’s three RBI performance tied a career high and gave reverence to a solid season at shortstop, a season that has been labeled by Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon as All-Star worthy, who feels his work at short has been amongst the best in the game this season.
For Escobar, 2013 has not only been a good season in terms of offensive and defensive production, but also for his love of the game.
“I’m just going out there trying to play the game and have fun,” Escobar said. “This is the first time in my career that I really feel like I’m having fun and I can be myself. I’m enjoying playing the game.”
It appeared that he did just that on Thursday, helping the Rays improve to a 46-40 record on the season where they currently sit 6 1/2 games out of the AL East division lead. Over the past ten games, the Rays have won seven of those contests, which includes capping off a 3-1 series victory against the Astros on Thursday.
