Yangervis Solarte Returns to Pinch Hit 1 Week After His Wife Died

San Diego Padres third baseman Yangervis Solarte stepped to the plate as pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday night against the San Francisco Giants, fulfilling the wishes of his late wife. 

Yuliett Pimentel Solarte, 31, died of cancer-related complications Sept. 17.

"From the beginning of the season, my wife had always pushed me and hadn’t wanted her illness to get in the way of things," Solarte told Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. "She always wanted me to play and to remember I have three daughters. She was always reminding me of that, to think of them, to think of her."

Solarte delivered a single, giving the Petco Park crowd more reason to cheer him on:

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