Tokyo: South Korean pitchers were taken to school by overpowering Japanese sluggers in their World Baseball Classic (WBC) matchup Saturday, as seven hurlers allowed four home runs and six walks in an 8-6 loss.
According to Yonhap News Agency, both teams had displayed some impressive power in their previous Pool C games. South Korea launched four home runs in beating Czechia 11-4 on Thursday, while Japan scored 10 runs in the second inning alone - the most ever by a team in an inning in tournament history - to beat Chinese Taipei 13-0 on Friday. Building on that momentum, it was Japan who came out on top Saturday night at Tokyo Dome.
South Korean starter Ko Young-pyo served up three of the four long balls in his 2 2/3 innings. The sidearm pitcher was initially backed by a 3-0 lead before throwing his first pitch. However, he quickly surrendered a two-run home run to Seiya Suzuki in the bottom of the first inning, cutting the deficit to 3-2.
Ko briefly regained his composure, retiring the next six batters with three strikeouts and three groundouts. However, his efforts were interrupted by Shohei Ohtani, who tied the score at 3-3 with a powerful home run to right-center field in the bottom third.
Following Ohtani's homer, Ko was unable to hold off Suzuki, who once again capitalized on a misplaced pitch, putting Japan ahead 4-3. Ko was subsequently replaced by Jo Byeong-hyeon, who then allowed a solo home run to Masataka Yoshida.
Kim Hye-seong's two-run shot in the top fourth inning brought the score to a 5-5 tie, and South Korean relievers Son Ju-young and Go Woo-suk each delivered a scoreless inning to maintain the tie through six innings.
The turning point came in the seventh inning when South Korean pitcher Park Yeong-hyun walked Shugo Maki to start the inning. After a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, Park intentionally walked Ohtani. Left-handed reliever Kim Young-kyu was then called in, but struggled against Konsuke Kondoh, walking him to load the bases. Another walk to Suzuki pushed in the go-ahead run for Japan.
Kim Young-kyu, unable to exit due to the three-batter minimum rule, gave up a single to Yoshida, allowing two more runs for Japan. Kim Taek-yeon managed to strike out Kazuma Okamoto, but by then, the damage was done, leading to Japan's victory.