Korea routs Cuba in 2nd tuneup game before int'l baseball tournament
Yoon Dong-hee of Korea hits a solo home run against Cuba during the teams' exhibition baseball game at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, Nov. 2. Yonhap
Korea hammered Cuba 13-3, Saturday, in its second tuneup game before an international baseball tournament set for later this month.
Korea pounded out 14 hits for the comfortable win in front of a sellout crowd of 16,100 at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul in the second of two exhibition games against Cuba.
These two games were part of Korea's preparation for the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 tournament.
Both Korea and Cuba are in Group B along with Japan, Australia, the Dominican Republic and Chinese Taipei, the host country for the preliminary stage from Nov. 13 to 18.
The top two teams from Groups A and B will advance to the Super Round, which will be played in Tokyo from Nov. 21 to 24.
Korea won the inaugural Premier12 title in 2015 and finished second to Japan in 2019.
Korea manager Ryu Joong-il plans to take a young team, made up mostly of players in their early- to mid-20s, with an eye toward the 2026 World Baseball Classic and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Ryu is expected to make his final seven cuts from the training camp roster early next week.
Korea won Friday's game 2-0, with eight pitchers combining for a three-hit shutout. The second game was a far different affair, with Korea recording eight extra-base hits and Cuba piecing together 11 hits.
Yoon Dong-hee put Korea on the board with a solo home run off Raymond Figueredo in the top of the second inning.
Cuba tied things up with Yoelquis Guibert's solo shot off Ko Young-pyo, Korea's second pitcher, in the bottom of the third.
But Korea responded right away with three runs in the top of the fourth, which featured Park Seong-han's RBI double, Hong Chang-ki's RBI single and a run-scoring double by Song Sung-mun.
Nursing a 5-3 lead through seven innings, Korea pulled away with an eight-run explosion in the top of the eighth.
After Na Seung-yeup's single made it a 6-3 game, Korea added three quick runs after loading the bases.
Korea loaded the bases again later in the inning, and Shin Min-jae and Choi Won-jun each drove in two runs for a 13-3 lead.
Starter Choi Seung-yong tossed two shutout innings for Korea, and six relievers covered the final seven frames while scattering eight hits.
Korea is scheduled to depart for Taipei City, Friday. (Yonhap)