Korean pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin, right, throws a ball during practice for the World Baseball Classic at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, March 4. Yonhap
TOKYO — Korea will turn to former major league All-Star Ryu Hyun-jin in a crucial opening round game against Chinese Taipei at the World Baseball Classic (WBC).
Ryu, the 2019 ERA champion in Major League Baseball now back in Korea, will take the ball in South Korea's third Pool C game at Tokyo Dome at noon Sunday.
Korea began the competition with an 11-4 win over Czechia on Thursday but lost to Japan 8-6 on Saturday.
Since the top two teams in the group will advance to the quarterfinals, Korea can ill afford to lose another game the rest of the way.
This will be Ryu's first start at Tokyo Dome since he also faced Chinese Taipei in a WBC pool game on March 6, 2009.
In his 14 career international games, Ryu has gone 5-1 with a 3.14 ERA over 51 2/3 innings. He was a key part of Korea's run to the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the championship final at the 2009 WBC.
Chinese Taipei will counter with right-hander Gu Lin Ruei-Yang. The 25-year-old spent the early years of his career in his native country before joining the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan for the 2025 season. He put up a 2-2 record with a 3.62 ERA in seven games, while striking out 34 batters in 32 1/3 innings.
Chinese Taipei beat Czechia 14-0 on Saturday after dropping the first two games — against Australia and Japan — by a combined score of 16-0.
Source: Korea Times News
