South Korea wins first round of WBC Pool A

South Korea, Japan advance to round 2 of the World Baseball Classic

South Korea stays undefeated in international play and will enter round two as the top seed in Group A after upsetting powerhouse Japan 3-2 on Sunday. Japan took an early 2 – 0 lead scoring on a groundout in the first, and a second inning home run by Munenori Kawasaki. South Korea scored in the fifth on a sacrifice fly and took the lead courtesy of a Lee Seung-yeop two-run homer in the eight inning. Ex NY Mets prospect Dae-Sung Koo pitched two shutout innings of relief to earn the win and Chan Ho Park pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his second save of the opening round. After Park retired Ichiro for the final out, the South Korean team rushed the field in celebration.

Ichiro’s fly out capped off a disappointing first round where he went 3 -11 at the plate. Not all is done for the Japanese contingent, as they also qualify for second round play with their 2 -1 record. Both teams will travel to Arizona for tune-ups against Major League teams and then go on to face the top two in Group B which consists of the United States, Canada, Mexico and South America. The second round will be held March 12 – 16

Group A Standings

POOL A
Team W L Pct GB
Korea 3 0 1.000 0
Japan 2 1 0.667 1
Chinese Taipei 1 2 0.333 2
China 0 3 0.000 3

MVP – Seung Yeop Lee .455 avg 4 R 3 HR 7 RBI



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