Korea Wins Asian Round Over Japan
By Yoon Chul
Staff Reporter
In the final Asian round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC), the Beijing Olympics golden boys recovered their hurt pride, beating Japan at the Tokyo Dome Stadium, Monday.
Recovering from a disastrous first match against the home-team, Korea in a defensive coup d' etat beat Japan 1-0 through power hitter Kim Tae-kyun's RBI single.
Among the Korean pitchers, former major leaguer Bong Jung-keun came out as a new killer, silencing the stadium during 5 1/3 scoreless innings.
While the 28-year-old starter was on the mound he allowed only three singles.
In the top of fourth Kim produced the game's only score.
While Korean leadoff hitter Lee Jong-wook was walked and the smallest second baseman Jeong Keun-woo recorded the team's first single, slugger Kim went to bat.
Kim, who produced a huge 140-meter homerun against Matsuzaka Daisuke Saturday, hit Japanese starter Iwakuma Hisashi's second pitch and Lee dashed home to give Korea a 1-0 lead as the ball passed through the fielders just next to third base.
However Japan smothered any further rally by taking out Jeong at third through a relay ball from outfield.
Making it worse for Korea, RBI machine Kim finished the top of fourth after being picked off by the catcher.
In Japan's next offense in the leadoff at the bottom of the fourth, Nakajima got to second base through a walk and a single, but veteran starter Bong didn't allow any more hits against the next three batters.
A desperate Japan looked for a score, but first reliever Jong Hyun-wook, the opening game's winner Ryu Hyun-jin and closer Lim Chang-yong kept them silent for another memorable victory for Korea.
Though Korea won the Asian round, team manager Kim In-sik found their performance wanting. Compared to the Beijing Olympics last year and the first WBC in 2006, they showed poor base running, he said.
South Korea were hit with double plays twice on big chances in the fifth and seventh.
With the win of the Asian round of the WBC, Korea earned $1 million with the round winning bonus of $300,000.
Korea's first match in the second round will be March 16 at 12 p.m. (KST).