Tokyo: South Korean pitchers surrendered three home runs in a crushing loss to Chinese Taipei at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) on Sunday, a defeat that pushed the country to the brink of yet another early exit. Starter Ryu Hyun-jin and the two pitchers that followed him, Gwak Been and Dane Dunning, each allowed a home run in a 5-4 loss in 10 innings in Pool C play at Tokyo Dome.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Ryu retired the side in order in the top of the first inning, getting two groundouts in the process. However, he surrendered a solo home run to Chang Yu to begin the second inning. The left-hander tried to sneak a fastball by Chang, who drilled the knee-high pitch and launched it 366 feet into left field. Ryu quickly regrouped to retire the next three batters, two via strikeouts, and wiggled out of a two-out, two-on jam by striking out the dangerous Stuart Fairchild for the final out. This also ended up being Ryu's last strikeout of the game, with right-hander Gwak taking the ball to begin the fourth inning.
Gwak started pumping fastballs from the get-go, touching 97.9 miles per hour against Chang Yu. He sat the first six straight batters he faced but was not immune to a home run, with Cheng Tsung-Che hitting a solo shot to begin the top of the sixth. Dunning came on to relieve Gwak with two on and one out in the seventh, as South Korea was clinging to a 3-2 lead. Dunning kept it that way by getting Lyle Lin to bounce into an inning-ending double play. However, Dunning served up another big blow, with Fairchild putting Chinese Taipei up 4-3 with a two-run homer in the top of the eighth.
For South Korea, Kim Do-yeong tried his best to will his team to victory, first with a go-ahead two-run in the sixth and then a game-tying double in the eighth. The pitchers, however, failed to hold up their end by surrendering a trio of homers. Ryu expressed regret over his mistake pitch against Chang, acknowledging Chinese Taipei's power threat.
To finish among the top two in Pool C and reach the quarterfinals, South Korea must beat Australia on Monday and hope tiebreaking procedures work in its favor. Ryu, as a veteran on the team at 38, urged his teammates to stay patient and take it one play at a time. Gwak shared his thoughts on the game, acknowledging the pivotal moment in the sixth inning and expressing hope for a stronger performance in the next match.
Source: Yonhap News Agency