Korea lost to Japan 5-1 in the final of a regional baseball tournament in Tokyo on Sunday, with its offense silenced and pitchers unable to keep the ball in the park. Korea managed only five hits while serving up two home runs in the final of the Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) at Tokyo Dome, as it settled for its third consecutive runner-up finish behind Japan. Japan won the two previous editions of the APBC in 2017 and 2023. The APBC is for players aged 24 years and younger or those with no more than three years of professional experience. Teams can each take up to three players who are between 24 and 29 years old. In round-robin play, Korea lost to Australia 8-7 on Thursday and fell 9-5 against Japan on Friday. Korea then held off Taiwan 6-4 on Saturday, as those two countries, plus Australia, finished with an identical record of 1-2. Korea won out in a tiebreaking formula called Team Quality Balance, which looks at teams' runs scored and runs allowed, and it set up a rematch against the undefeated Japan in Sunday's final. Japan wasted little time taking the lead, as Mis