Iwamura Homers in Eighth to Lead Tampa Bay

Rays win fifth in a row, while Red Sox drop their fourth straight
By Mitch Pritchard,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 27, 2008 12:10 AM CDT
Iwamura Homers in Eighth to Lead Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay Rays' Akinori Iwamura, right, celebrates his eighth inning two-run home run with teammate Carl Crawford, in a 2-1 win during a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox.    (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)

Akinori Iwamura homered in the eighth inning and Tampa Bay beat the Boston Red Sox 2-1 last night for the Rays' first five-game winning streak in more than two years. Iwamura's two-out, two-run homer, his first since Sept. 3, came on a 1-1 pitch from Clay Buchholz (1-2), who took a one-hit shutout into the inning.

Dioner Navarro got the Rays' second hit, a pinch-hit single with one out in the eighth. After Jason Bartlett flew out, Iwamura's shot helped Tampa Bay win its fifth straight for the first time since Aug. 16-21, 2005. Buchholz allowed two runs and three hits over eight innings in his first complete game of the season. Boston has lost four in a row. (More MLB stories.)

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