South Korea’s Premier12 team put up a good fight against Japan’s top pitching staff, but were unable to overcome their first game loss to advance to the Super Round.

South Korea was eliminated from the Super Round after Japan defeated Cuba 7-6 and Chinese Taipei defeated Australia 11-3 in Group B matches at the WBSC Premier12 2024 on Sunday. Japan won all four of their matches to clinch first place in the group regardless of the outcome of their remaining matches, while Chinese Taipei finished second in the group with a 3-1 record and will advance to the Super Round. Third-place South Korea, which has two wins and two losses, can tie with Chinese Taipei with three wins and two losses if it wins against Australia on Aug. 18, but because it lost 3-6 in its first match against Chinese Taipei, it cannot advance to the Super Round even if it ties with Chinese Taipei with three wins and two losses under the winner-take-all rule.

The team headed to Taiwan with a lot of concerns, as they had a number of injuries before the tournament began, including Moon Dong-joo, Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha), Koo Ja-uk, Won Tae-in, Kim Young-woong (Samsung), and Lee Kang-joon (Kiwoom). In the first game, Korea faced the hosts from Taiwan, and starter Ko Young-pyo gave up a leadoff homer to Chun Chun-wei in the second inning, followed by a two-run shot to Chun Je-hsuan. The bats responded with three runs and the bullpen held the rest of the game without allowing another run, but it was a 3-6 loss.

After dropping the first game,

Korea faced SoftBank ace Rivan Moinello, the runner-up in this year’s Japan Series, in the second game against Cuba. Moinello is a veteran left-hander who has played eight seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, going 30-14 with a 1.92 ERA in 331 games (463⅓ innings pitched), 135 starts, 40 saves, and 135 relief appearances. Last year, he pitched for Cuba in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), leading the team to the quarterfinals, and this year he went 11-5 with a 1.88 ERA in 25 games (163 innings) to lead the Pacific League in ERA.

Facing an ace who leads Nippon Professional Baseball in ERA in an already unfavorable situation, Korea was not expected to have an easy time of it, 메이저사이트 but they responded. In the second inning, Moon Bok-kyung doubled, Park Sung-sung singled, stole second, Choi Won-joon singled, Hong Chang-ki walked, Shin Min-jae singled, and Kim Do-young homered to drive in six runs and chase Moinello. The Koreans were able to capitalize on the ace, winning 8-4 to even the series at 1-1.

However, they had to face the favorites, Japan. To make matters worse, the Japanese were starting Hiroto Takahashi (Junichi), who leads the Central League in ERA. Takahashi is a specialty ace with a 12-4 record and a 1.38 ERA in 21 games (143⅔ innings) this year. He has the lowest ERA in all of Nippon Professional Baseball’s two major leagues and has been dominant, allowing just one home run all season. For the second game in a row, South Korea faced the Nippon Professional Baseball ERA title winner.

However, the Korean bats were more than up to the task.

In the first inning, leadoff hitter Hong Chang-ki got things started with a single. The first inning was scoreless, but in the second, after Park Dong-won doubled and Lee Joo-hyung singled, Hong led off with an RBI single. Despite giving up a 1-2 lead in the bottom of the inning, Park Dong-won hit a solo home run in the fourth to tie the game at 2-2. Takahashi eventually left the game after four innings of seven hits (one home run), eight strikeouts and two runs. Yoon Dong-hee’s RBI double in the fifth inning cut the deficit to 3-2, but Korea was unable to hold on to the lead and fell 3-6.

With the loss, South Korea faces elimination from the Super Round. A loss in the fourth game against the Dominican Republic would effectively end their chances of advancing to the Super Round. Korea gave up six runs in the first inning to fall behind 0-6, but the bats came alive in the final inning to pull off a 9-6 comeback win.

The fans applauded the dramatic comeback.

However, even with this miraculous comeback, Korea’s chances of advancing to the Super Round fell short. Not because Korea lost, but because the number of cases disappeared depending on the results of other teams’ matches. In the end, two early home runs against Chinese Taipei in the first game proved to be their undoing.

After proving to be no match for Japan’s top ace, Korea failed to advance to the Super Round, but will look to redeem themselves in their final match against Australia. Korea will be led by Ko Young-pyo, who started against Chinese Taipei, while Australia will be led by Tim Atherton. / Photo.