HOUSTON -- Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon has talked often about how Yunel Escobar deserves All-Star consideration for his stellar play at shortstop this season. The defensive standout showed on Thursday that he also can be a force on offence. Escobar tied a season high by driving in three runs, including a tiebreaking double in the 11th inning that sent the Rays to a 7-5 victory over the Houston Astros. Escobar and Desmond Jennings each doubled twice and singled, helping Tampa Bay win for the fifth time in six games. "Im just going out there trying to play the game and have fun," he said. "This is the first time in my career that I really feel like Im having fun and I can be myself. Im enjoying playing the game." Brett Wallace homered twice for the Astros. Jose Lobaton walked to start the 11th and moved to second on a passed ball by Jason Castro. Escobar then doubled into the right-field corner off Josh Fields (0-1). Escobar advanced on Desmond Jennings fly ball to right and came home on a wild pitch by Wesley Wright. Jamey Wright (2-1) pitched a scoreless 10th for the win and Fernando Rodney finished for his 18th save. Wallace hit a three-run shot in the eighth inning, tying it at 5 with his second homer of the game. The Rays had just grabbed the lead with three runs in the top half, including a two-run double by Escobar. "(It) was an emotional roller coaster," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "To give up the three and fall behind and then come back the next inning and have (Wallace) hit the big three-run homer, you really just want to build off that momentum and end it right there if you can." Evan Longoria had a run-scoring groundout in the first for Tampa Bay, and Escobar came on home on Jordan Lyles wild pitch in the seventh, tying it at 2. Wallace hit a solo homer in the fourth, and Jake Elmore had a sacrifice fly in the fifth for the Astros. Elmore sparked Houstons rally in the eighth with a leadoff walk. Jose Altuve then singled before Wallace drove a 1-2 pitch from Joel Peralta over the wall in right for his third homer since he rejoined the Astros from Triple-A last week. Escobar had the big blow in the top half of the inning, a long two-run double that landed on Tals Hill in straightaway centre field. Brandon Barnes appeared to have a shot to bring it in, but tripped and fell running up the hill. "How about Escobar? How far was that ball hit to centre field?" Maddon said. "You dont see that play anywhere else in baseball, but their centre fielder did a nice job. He went after that ball really, really well. I thought he had a chance and the hill got him." Tampa Bay rookie starter Chris Archer yielded two hits and two runs in six innings. "I felt like all things were clicking, the defence was making outstanding plays, we scored runs in a timely fashion and overall todays game was kind of like the definition of the Rays," he said. "We pitched pretty well, we scored runs when we needed to, and we played defence." Lyles allowed six hits and walked three in 6 2-3 innings. It was a much better performance than his previous two starts, when he allowed 12 runs and 15 hits combined. Longoria was Tampa Bays designated hitter for the third straight game after missing the previous three games with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. James Loney had a single in the Tampa Bay fourth to extend his hitting streak to a career-high-tying 15 games. The other time he achieved the feat was in 2008. NOTES: Rays RF Wil Myers, a rookie who is considered one of best prospects in baseball, had a nifty diving catch to rob Castro of a hit in the first. ... Tampa Bay returns home on Friday to start a three-game series with the Chicago White Sox, with Jeremy Hellickson on the mound for the Rays against Dylan Axelrod. ... The Astros travel to Arlington to take on the Rangers on Friday. Houstons Lucas Harrell opposes Nick Tepesch. ... RHP Mark Appel, the first overall selection in the draft by Houston, is scheduled to make his professional debut on Friday for Single-A Tri City. Adam Ottavino Jersey . It was the most lopsided loss in Lakers history. Darren Collison had a team-high 24 points while starting at shooting guard for the injured Jamal Crawford. Chris Paul added 13 points and 11 assists for the Clippers, who apparently are trying to make up for decades of humiliation at the hands of the Lakers all in one season; theyve won the last two meetings by a combined 84 points. Joe DiMaggio Yankees Jersey . THE MICHAEL JORDAN FLU GAME First this famous basketball moment. The story goes like this. “Game 5, known as "The Flu Game", was one of Michael Jordans most memorable. https://www.cheapyankees.com/2041g-maria...ey-yankees.html. -- The top-seeded Alberta Pandas set up of an all-Canada West final against arch rival UBC at the CIS womens volleyball championship after a 3-0 win over the No. Ron Guidry Yankees Jersey . Top-seeded Djokovic, who is making only his second appearance this year after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over 54th-ranked Istomin of Uzbekistan. "It wasnt as easy as the scoreline indicates," said Djokovic, who has won in Dubai on four occasions. Mike Tauchman Yankees Jersey ." Also, defencemen "were found to be at a higher risk of suffering a concussion than other players, perhaps due to turning their back to retrieve pucks along the boards, which leaves them vulnerable. NASHVILLE -- This time, the shootout win went to the Nashville Predators. Craig Smith scored the only goal in the tiebreaker, leading the Predators to a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday night. Patric Hornqvist scored two goals and Shea Weber added another for Nashville, which has won two of three. It was the Predators first shootout win since Jan. 16 at Philadelphia and their second of the season against eight losses. Troy Brouwer scored twice and Nicklas Backstrom had the other goal for Washington. The Capitals have lost three straight. "I thought we played better today than yesterday," Washington coach Adam Oates said. "There were moments where we didnt execute, but I thought that as we got into the game, we played better." Nashville goaltender Carter Hutton had 23 saves, and then denied all three Washington shooters in the tiebreaker. Weber gave Nashville a 3-2 lead at 8:23 of the third. Matt Cullen carried the puck into the Washington zone on the right side. Just across the blue line, he left a drop pass for Mike Fisher, who found Weber at the top of the right circle. The captain then ripped a slap shot high to the stick side of Capitals goaltender Jaroslav Halak for his team-leading 21st goal of the season. "The way (Weber) shoots the puck, it is pretty dangerous every time," Cullen said. Washington then used a power play to tie the game again with 7:40 to go. Backstroms snap shot from above the right circle beat Hutton for his 14th of the season. The Capitals went 2 for 4 with the man advantage. They began the day with the leagues best power play, clicking at a success rate of 23.8 per cent. "I thought we deserved the game," Nashviille coach Barry Trotz said.dddddddddddd "I thought 5-on-5, we were much better than they were tonight. We managed the pucks well." Nashville did not get a power play in the game. Brouwer scored the games first goal at 4:17 of the opening period. From the left corner, Backstrom found Mike Green in the right circle. Green made a quick backdoor pass to Brouwer, who beat Hutton with a one-timer. Hornqvist responded at 5:55 of the first. Fisher won a faceoff at the right dot inside the Washington zone back to Weber, where his slap shot was stopped by Halak. On the left side, Hornqvist grabbed the rebound and put it past a fallen Halak for his 100th career NHL goal. "Hes been great for us all year," Hornqvist said of Weber. "Hes our leader. Hes our best defenceman on both sides of the puck and obviously he has a big shot. He showed it tonight." Hornqvist struck again at 18:30 of the first, when a Backstrom turnover at the Washington blue line sent him in on a breakaway. From in close, Hornqvist beat Halak just under the crossbar for his 17th of the season. Just seconds before Hornqvists goal, a sliding Weber knocked the puck away from Alex Ovechkin, who was skating down the right side of the Nashville zone, denying the leagues leading scorer of a solid chance. "There arent enough games left to be too positive about only getting one point," Washington defenceman John Carlson said. "Yeah, it is a point, but its only going to make our road harder." NOTES: Green played in his 500th career NHL game. He is the 10th defenceman in Capitals history to reach that mark with the team. ... Brouwer has points in his last three games. ... Fisher has six points in his last six games. ' ' '