The fierce duel with Japan the previous night proved a ‘poison’
The lineup managed only four hits
Only Kim Do-young did ‘his part’ with a home run and a double

The dreaded worst-case scenario became reality. The Korean national baseball team hung its heads after a loss to Taiwan, the biggest hurdle to reaching the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The hard-fought contest with Japan the previous night ultimately proved toxic.

On the 8th at Tokyo Dome in Japan, the team lost 4-5 to Taiwan in its third Pool C group-round game. Kim Do-young, who twice rescued the team with a go-ahead home run and a game-tying double, came up as the final batter with two outs and a runner on second in the bottom of the 10th, but was retired on a foul fly to right field. As in the 6-8 defeat to Japan the day before, they were again short by just ‘a hair’.

Starting with Ryu Hyun-jin and followed by Kwak Bin and even Dane Dunning, the team poured in its three strongest starters but could not completely shut down Taiwan. Ryu allowed a solo home run in the second, and Kwak in the sixth. Dunning, who had come on in relief in the seventh with one out and runners on first and second and ended the jam by inducing a double play with two pitches, also surrendered a two-run home run in the eighth to major leaguer of Taiwanese descent Stewart Fairchild. Barring the run conceded on consecutive bunts in the 10th-inning tiebreaker after entering extras tied 4-4, four of the five runs allowed came via three home runs. The home-run parade in this tournament devoured Korea against Taiwan.

The lineup failed to crack the Taiwan pitching staff. The Japan game the previous night did not end until after 10 p.m. The Korean team could not rest properly and had to leave the hotel at 8 a.m. to face Taiwan. The physical toll was heavy. The bats that had produced nine hits against Japan were clearly dulled.

Taiwan pitchers were overpowering as well. Led by starter Gu Lin Ruiyang, six pitchers held Korea to four hits through the 10th. Aside from Kim Do-young, who recorded two hits and three RBIs with a home run and a double, no one on the team could properly solve Taiwan pitching.

Starting in right field as the No. 4 hitter and going 0-for-2, An Hyun-min said after the game, "The pitchers had good stuff. Even compared with the Japanese pitchers from the previous day, I did not feel they were much worse," and bowed his head, saying, "Everyone did their best, but we simply did not hit. You have to hit to score, and we did not."

From before the tournament began, the team felt a heavy burden about a schedule that had them face Japan and Taiwan back to back. They could not possibly take the Japan game lightly, yet if they spent too much energy in that first matchup, the Taiwan game they had to play the next afternoon could become difficult. The concern came true in the worst possible way. The Japan game was so tight that the bullpen was heavily taxed, and the position players also expended energy as if it were more than one game. Korea met Taiwan after a 6-8 heartbreaker against Japan that went late into the night, while Taiwan faced Korea the day after a mercy-rule win over the Czech Republic in a day game.

Manager Ryu Ji-hyun said after the game, "It was a game we had to win, but the result was not good. As Taiwan starter Gu Lin Ruiyang worked deep into the game, it seemed Taiwan could deploy its strength on the back end."

In Pool C that evening, Japan beat Australia 4-3 for its third win to become the first to clinch a quarterfinal berth. Korea (1 win, 2 losses) will fight for a quarterfinal spot against Australia (2 wins, 1 loss) on the 9th in its final group-round game. Korea must hold the Australian lineup to two runs or fewer and win by at least five runs.