Korean starter Ryu Hyun-jin pitches against Chinese Taipei during the teams' Pool C game at the World Baseball Classic at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Sunday. Yonhap
Korean pitchers surrendered three home runs in a crushing loss to Chinese Taipei at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) on Sunday, a defeat that pushed the country to the brink of yet another early exit.
Starter Ryu Hyun-jin and the two pitchers that followed him, Gwak Been and Dane Dunning, each allowed a home run in a 5-4 loss in 10 innings in Pool C play at Tokyo Dome.
Ryu retired the side in order in the top of the first inning, getting two groundouts in the process.
But Ryu surrendered a solo home run to Chang Yu to begin the second inning. The left-hander tried to sneak a fastball by Chang, who drilled the knee-high pitch and launched it 366 feet into left field.
Ryu quickly regrouped to retire the next three batters, two via strikeouts.
Ryu wiggled out of a two-out, two-on jam by striking out the dangerous Stuart Fairchild for the final out.
And it also ended up being Ryu's last strikeout of the game, with right-hander Gwak taking the ball to begin the fourth inning.
Gwak started pumping fastballs from the get-go, touching 97.9 miles per hour against Chang Yu. Gwak sat the first six straight batters he faced.
But he also was not immune to a home run, this time a solo home run by leadoff man Cheng Tsung-Che to begin the top sixth.
Source: Korea Times News
