Tokyo: South Korea manager Ryu Ji-hyun wasn't prepared to settle for a moral victory after his team's valiant fight against Japan fell short at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) on Saturday. South Korea frittered away a 3-0 first-inning lead and lost 8-6 at Tokyo Dome in the teams' second Pool C game. South Korea's record dropped to 1-1 while Japan improved to 2-0.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Japan jumped on South Korean pitchers for four home runs, including two by Seiya Suzuki. "Going into the game, I felt how we could hang with them through five innings would be a key," Ryu said at his postgame press conference. "But we allowed some home runs and the game didn't play out the way we wanted it to."
The score was still tied at 5-5 before Japan went ahead for good in the seventh inning. Reliever Kim Young-kyu walked the first two batters he faced after taking over from Park Yeong-hyun, with the second of those free passes coming with the bases loaded. Kim then gave up a two-run single to Masataka Yoshida that sealed South Korea's fate.
Ryu defended his choice of making a pitching change against Kensuke Kondoh, who had been 0-for-8 for the tournament up to that point. "Based on what I saw from Young-kyu against Czechia (in the first game), I felt he'd be the pitcher who can kill off that rally," Ryu said. "Things just didn't go our way there."
South Korea has not beaten Japan in a best-on-best setup in over 10 years, 11 games ago. In pool play at the 2023 WBC, South Korea also scored first but lost 13-4. When asked if the closer margin this time meant the gap between the two countries had narrowed, Ryu said, "It's not appropriate for me to talk about the 2023 WBC here. I will only talk about today's game."
"Since I became the manager in February last year, I've been working hard toward this tournament," Ryu said. "Although we didn't get the win we wanted today, we still have more games left to play and we will do our best to get the results we all want." Ryu added he found a silver lining in his offense, highlighting the three-run first inning. "Against great Japanese pitchers, our hitters remained competitive," the manager said. "I think we will be able to continue with this momentum in the upcoming games."