Korea manager Ryu Ji-hyun celebrates his team's 11-4 win over Czechia in the teams' Pool C game at the World Baseball Classic at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, March 5. Yonhap

TOKYO — Hours before the start of a marquee showdown against Japan at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) on Saturday, South Korea manager Ryu Ji-hyun tried to downplay the magnitude of the occasion.

"Of course, any game against Japan is very important. But for us, all four games in the first round here are important all the same," Ryu said at his pregame press conference at the Tokyo Dome. "As I was preparing for this game, I thought of an ancient saying that highlighted the importance of a leader to take a look at the big picture. And that's how I am going to approach it."

South Korea started Pool C play with an 11-4 win over Czechia on Thursday, while Japan began its WBC title defense with a 13-0 beatdown on Chinese Taipei on Friday. With the top two teams from the group progressing to the quarterfinals, South Korea and Japan have both positioned themselves well for a knockout trip.

And with two more winnable games on the horizon for South Korea against Chinese Taipei and Australia, Ryu may have an option of not pushing the envelope too much to eke out a win against Japan --- especially since South Korea will play a noon game Sunday against Chinese Taipei.

Ryu said he felt the Japanese bats had finally come around in their massive win from the previous night after looking a bit sluggish in earlier exhibition games.

Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar, had three hits, including a grand slam, and drove in five runs, but Ryu said Japan is far from a one-man team.

"They have good hitters in all nine spots in the lineup," Ryu said. "We have done our homework and we will try to do the best with what we have."

With Los Angeles Angels left-hander Yusei Kikuchi starting for Japan, Ryu made some lineup changes to have more right-handed presence higher up.

The first four spots remained the same from the Czechia game, featuring three right-handed hitters in Kim Do-yeong, Jahmai Jones and Ahn Hyun-min. Shay Whitcomb, who blasted two homers from No. 6 spot against Czechia, will move up to bat fifth against Japan. He traded places with left-handed Moon Bo-gyeong.

Source: Korea Times News