Tokyo: South Korea manager Ryu Ji-hyun said Monday he wants his players to view a high-stakes game against Australia at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) as an "opportunity" to do something great, not a source of stress or anxiety. South Korea will face Australia in a must-win Pool C game at 7 p.m. Monday at Tokyo Dome. A loss will eliminate South Korea from knockout contention. But a South Korea victory will create a three-way tie involving South Korea, Australia, and Chinese Taipei at 2-2. To win the tiebreaker based on runs allowed divided by defensive outs recorded, South Korea must beat Australia by at least five runs while also allowing two or fewer runs to advance to the quarterfinals. For instance, a 5-0 victory will get the job done but a 5-1 or a 4-0 win won't. Australia, with a 2-1 record, will advance with a win over South Korea by any margin. Australia can also advance even with a loss as long as it scores more than two runs.
According to Yonhap News Agency, at his pregame press conference, Ryu acknowledged his team is in "a tough situation" but he also wanted to view things from a different perspective. "At our team meeting earlier today, I told the players to keep a positive mindset and recognize that this situation has given us an opportunity," Ryu said. "If we get caught up with numbers and start chasing scores, then it could lead to a bad outcome. If each player does his part within the game, then we could end up with the result we want."
Ryu expressed frustration at the team's current position. "Considering the path we've taken to get to this point, it's quite upsetting to be where we are now," Ryu continued. "So I told the players that they have to keep this in mind and trust that things will work in our favor."
South Korean pitchers have surrendered eight home runs so far, more than any other country at the WBC, and Australia has displayed some power to the tune of six home runs in three games. Ryu said his pitchers must minimize mistakes against those dangerous Australian hitters. "We told the pitchers to pick a pitch that they feel most comfortable with and execute it with confidence," Ryu said. "That way, I think they will be able to avoid mistakes and make their pitches."
Ryu made a couple of lineup changes. Infielder Shay Whitcomb, hitless the past two games after homering twice in the opener last week, will start the game on the bench, as Roh Si-hwan gets the start at first base. Shin Min-jae will get the start at second base ahead of Kim Hye-seong, who jammed his left hand at second base in a steal attempt during Sunday's game against Chinese Taipei.