S. Korea Wins Four Straight
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Lee Seung-yeop continued to wield a monstrous bat as South Korea routed Spain 14-5 in Taichung, Taiwan, Monday for its fourth straight victory in the Olympic qualifiers.
The win keeps the Koreans tied with host Taiwan as the two are unbeaten in the six-team playoff, which stakes three tickets to the Beijing tournament in August. The men in blue will play against Germany in their next game on Wednesday.
After opening their account with an RBI single by Lee Dae-ho in the first inning and adding another run in the third on a single by Ko Young-min, the South Koreans erupted for five runs in the fourth off shaky Spanish pitchers Olivera Cavero and Cruz Montero.
Cho In-sung brought home Kim Ju-chan with a single up the middle, Lee Yong-gyu drove in another run with a bases-loaded single, and the Koreans got three more runs on Lee Jong-wook's bases loaded walk, a sacrificed fly by Ko and a wild pitch by Montero.
The Koreans seemed to put the game away by scoring another run in the next inning, but the Spaniards pounded Korean starter Kim Sun-woo for four runs in the bottom of the fifth to make things interesting. Spain added another run in the sixth.
But the Koreans scored two runs off Spanish reliever Creazzol Granados in the sixth and added another run in the seventh.
Seung-yeop, who was left out of the starting lineup by manager Kim Kyung-moon, pinched hit for Jeong Seong-hoon and nailed a two-run home run in the eighth. In the past four games, he has batted 7 for 12 with two homers and nine RBIs.
Jin Kap-yong, pinch hitting for Son Si-hun, drove in Cho on a grounder to short later in the inning to make it 14-5.