S. Korea seals quarterfinals berth with 4-3 win over Mexico

/Yonhap

South Korea sealed a quarterfinals berth at the Premier 12 baseball tournament with a 4-3 victory over Mexico on Saturday.

Slugger Park Byung-ho went deep and reliever Cha Woo-chan struck out eight in three innings for the nail-biting victory at Tien-Mou Baseball Stadium in Taipei. It was South Korea's third straight win at the inaugural tournament.

South Korea will play in the quarterfinals regardless of its result against the United States in the final group stage game on Sunday.

The world's top-12 nations, based on world rankings at the end of last year, have been paired into two groups of six. South Korea is in Group B with Japan, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico and the United States.

Japan (4-0) has clinched the top seed in Group B thanks to a 10-2 win over the United States Saturday. South Korea improved to 3-1 to stay in second place, followed by the United States at 2-2.

All quarterfinals matches will be played on Monday in Taiwan. The semifinals, third-place game, and the final will be held at Tokyo Dome later next week.

After scoring 23 runs in the past two games, South Korea stayed hot at the plate from the opening frame. Mexican starter Cesar Carrillo walked the first two batters of the game, and paid dearly when No. 3 hitter Kim Hyun-soo -- batting 4-for-9 with six RBIs in the previous two games -- launched a two-run double to left-center.

South Korea added a run with a pair of two-out hits in the top of the second. Kim Jae-ho hit a double to right-center and Jeong Keun-woo slapped one down the first base line for another double to score Kim, making it 3-0 South Korea.

With two down in the third, slumping slugger Park Byung-ho belted a solo home run over right-center for a 4-0 lead, flashing some opposite field power to end his 0-for-9 drought.

Mexico halved the deficit in the bottom third. With a man at first and one down, Juan Perez tagged starter Lee Tae-yang for an RBI triple to right-center. Kevin Medrano, the next batter, scored Perez on a sacrifice fly to right.

South Korea missed opportunities to move further out in front. The bases were loaded with two outs in the fourth for cleanup Lee Dae-ho, who flied out to right to end the inning. In the fifth, South Korea had men at first and second following a single and an error, only to see Kang Min-ho ground into a rally-killing 5-3 double play.

After surviving those jams, Mexico further ate into the South Korean lead in the fifth. With runners at first and second, left-hander Cha Woo-chan bounced a pitch in the dirt. Catcher Kang Min-ho picked it up quickly but made a wide throw to third, allowing Brandon Macias to trot home and make it a 4-3 game.

Cha then buckled down and started mowing down hitters. After getting two strikeouts in the fifth, Cha struck out the side in the sixth and seventh.

Cha -- who led the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) this year with 194 Ks in 173 innings -- left the game after getting one out in the eighth, having struck out eight of 11 batters he faced and given up just one hit.

Veteran right-hander Chong Tae-hyon retired four batters, and left-hander Lee Hyun-seung got the final out for the save with a tying run at second.

If South Korea beats the United States Sunday, it will finish second in Group B. With a loss, both South Korea and the United States will end with a 3-2 record, but the Americans will hold a tiebreak edge and will be the Group B runner-up.

Canada leads Group A at 4-0, followed by the Netherlands at 3-1. (Yonhap)