ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -Tampa Bay Devil Rays third baseman Akinori Iwamura is expected to miss four to five games with a left eye injury.
Iwamura chased after a ball Saturday night in the bullpen down the third-base line in the eighth inning that bounced and hit him in the eye. He was checked by a team trainer and stayed in the game for the rest of the inning, but then left the game after the inning.
Iwamura, through an interpreter, said it feels like he “got punched by a heavyweight.”
“It’s better than when it happened,” Iwamura said before Sunday’s game against Kansas City.
Iwamura has a small cut above the eye, but no fractures. He was examined by an eye doctor late Saturday, who recommended Iwamura sit out for a few days.
“It’s kind of a bruise on his eye,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. “I don’t think it’s going to exceed five days. I don’t know if it could be less, but it shouldn’t be much more than that. He got hit in a bad spot.”
Iwamura is hitting .370 with one homer and six RBIs. The former Japanese Central League star was 8-for-17 in five games since returning from a right oblique strain that sidelined him for a month.
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