Korea overpowered Philippines 8-2 → Clash with Japan on the 9th

The Korean national baseball team, which finished the group round with two wins and one loss, won its first Super Round game.

The national baseball team, led by head coach Chung In-myung, defeated the Philippines 8-2 in the first round of the Super Round of the 30th Asian Baseball Championship held at Taipei Dome in Taiwan on the 8th.

After losing the first group match against Taiwan 0-4, Korea won 9-0 and 19-1 against Hong Kong and Palestine, respectively, and secured a ticket to the Super Round as the second-ranked team in Group A. Since then, Korea has continued its upward trend by defeating the Philippines, the second-ranked team in Group B.

Team Korea has to secure a victory by more than three points in order to advance to the finals with its second Super Round match against Japan on Sunday. The calculation method has become a bit complicated as Japan won 1-0 in its first Super Round match against Taiwan. It is necessary to minimize the number of lost points by garnering a lot of points.

On the day, Korea lined up in the order of Jung Joon-jae (second baseman), Jung Joon-young (left fielder), Park Joo-chan (third baseman), Na Seung-yeop (first baseman), Euro Gyeol (right fielder), Kim Bum-seok (designated hitter), Kim Seong-woo (catcher), Jung Hyun-seung (midfielder), and Lee Min-joon (baseball). Jang Ji-soo is the starting pitcher.

Korea, which allowed no run in the top of the first inning, had a chance thanks to Jung Joon-young's walk and Park Joo-chan's hit to the middle with one out in the bottom of the first inning. When Na Seung-yeop grounded out to the first and third bases with one out, Jung Joon-young, the third baseman, hit a home run. Adding to the error of the third baseman, the team had one out once again, and when the follow-up batter Euro U-yong grounded out, Park Joo-chan, the third baseman, headed to his home run. The score was 2-0.

It was in the top of the fourth inning that Jang Ji-soo, who blocked three scoreless innings in the first half of the game, faced a crisis. Leadoff hitter Kyle Sobberano's double and Erwin Boshito's bunt hit allowed runners on first and third bases with no outs. Since then, Jang has allowed his first run after a left-handed hit by Adrian Ross Bernardo.

Mark Steven Manaic's sacrifice bunt made it to second and third bases with one out, and Shin Heon-min, who came to the mound on behalf of Jang Ji-soo, induced Ignacio Luis Escano to hit a grounder to shortstop, but failed to block the third baseman's score. The two teams scored 2-2.

However, the batters started the game in the bottom of the second and third innings. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Kim Bum-suk's walk and Lee Min-joon's ball hit the ball to give the team two outs, and Lee Min-joon induced the opposing catcher's throwing error. Kim Bum-suk and Lee Min-joon, who attempted to steal the ball when Jung Joon-jae was at bat, both scored. It was the moment when the team regained the lead. 스포츠토토

In the bottom of the fifth inning, leadoff hitter Park Joo-chan hit a double to pressure the Philippines, and Na Seung-yeop ran away 5-2 as he brought second baseman Park Joo-chan home with a hit to right field.

With timely RBI single by Kim Bum-suk and Kim Sung-woo in the bottom of the seventh inning, the team clearly secured victory, and Na Seung-yeop got a pushy walk in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving one more run to the team. In the end, the game ended with the team's six-point victory.

Starting pitcher Jang Ji-soo allowed three hits, two strikeouts and two runs in three ⅓ innings, and Shin Heon-min, who came up after, garnered a relief victory with no hits and two strikeouts in one ⅔. Chung Hyeon-soo, who came up as the third pitcher, also showed his presence by allowing one hit and four strikeouts in one ⅔ inning.

In the batting lineup, Park Joo-chan, one of the pillars of the center batting line, made two hits, two runs and one walk from four times at bat, while Na Seung-yeop gave a boost to the batting lineup with one hit, three RBIs, one run and three walks from two times at bat. Kim Bum-seok, who played as the designated hitter, also contributed to his team's victory by playing multi-hit games.