South Korea lost 5-4 to Chinese Taipei in extra innings at the World Baseball Classic on Sunday. Despite heroics from Kim Do-yeong, the bats went quiet, leaving the team at 1-2 and needing a win over Australia plus favorable tiebreakers to advance. The defeat puts Korea's hopes of reaching the quarterfinals for the first time since 2009 in jeopardy.
South Korea's national team faced Chinese Taipei in a Pool C matchup at the World Baseball Classic on March 8 at Tokyo Dome, Japan, resulting in a 5-4 loss after 10 innings of back-and-forth action.
Chinese Taipei took the lead in the top of the second with a solo home run by Chang Yu off starter Ryu Hyun-jin. Korea tied it at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth on a double-play grounder by Shay Whitcomb after a leadoff walk to Ahn Hyun-min and a single by Moon Bo-gyeong loaded the bases with no outs. In the top of the sixth, Cheng Tsung-Che hit a solo home run off reliever Gwak Been to make it 2-1 for Taipei, but Kim Do-yeong responded in the bottom half with a 390-foot two-run homer on a first-pitch fastball from Lin Wei-En, giving Korea a 3-2 lead.
The lead shifted again in the top of the eighth when Stuart Fairchild crushed a two-run homer off Dane Dunning with a runner at second, putting Taipei ahead 4-3. Korea tied it in the bottom of the eighth on Kim Do-yeong's deep double to center off Sun Yi-Lei. A runner was stranded at second in the bottom of the ninth after Kim Ju-won's fly out, sending the game to extras.
Under extra-inning rules, Taipei started the 10th with a runner at second. Lyle Lin's bunt led to a throwing error by Go Woo-suk, allowing pinch-runner Chen Chieh-Hsien to slide safely into third. Chiang Kun-Yu then bunted Chen home for a 5-4 lead. In the bottom half, Kim Hyung-jun's sacrifice bunt advanced Kim Ju-won to third, but Kim Hye-seong's grounder resulted in a play at the plate for the out. Kim Hye-seong stole second with two outs, but Kim Do-yeong flied out to right to end the game.
Korea's offense managed only four hits, with Kim Do-yeong contributing the home run and double for three RBIs. Ryu pitched three innings allowing one run, Gwak surrendered the sixth-inning homer, and Dunning gave up the two-run shot in the eighth. Taipei starter Gu Lin Ruei-Yang was efficient, allowing one hit over four innings on 46 pitches.
After the game, Kim Do-yeong said, "I should have been more locked in on small details in my last at-bat. I am really mad at myself for that." Ryu Hyun-jin urged patience: "We have to score a bunch of runs and give up as little as possible tomorrow, and I hope the guys won't be in any hurry. Just take it one play at a time." Gwak Been added, "I tried to throw the ball with confidence, but the batter reacted well. We're not pointing fingers here. We're just devastated with this loss, but I hope we find some strength to pull it off tomorrow."
This marks two straight losses for Korea after an opening win over Czechia, putting them at 1-2. The top two in Pool C advance to the quarterfinals. Korea faces Australia on Monday at 7 p.m.; an Australian win over Japan later Sunday would eliminate Korea, but a Japanese victory keeps tiebreaker hopes alive with a Korea win.
