World Baseball Classic: Korea 7, Czech Republic 3
Korea’s victory dealt a blow (although not a fatal one) to the Czech Republic’s hopes of being the biggest underdog to advance to second round play. With a 1-2 record, the Czechs (a team composed largely of amateurs) now must win their late Sunday night game against Australia and hope for a break in run differential to earn the second ticket out of the Tokyo Group B bracket.
For the first time in the tournament, the Koreans played the way many expected them to play from the start, with a degree of dominance capable of challenging Japan for group supremacy. That dominance began with a five-run explosion in the bottom of the first that took all the drama out of this game.
Korea hit the Czechs with a five-hit, one-walk haymaker in that first, the key being Tommy Edman’s base hit that drove in two teammates.
But from a muscle standpoint, Padres infielder Ha-Seong Kim provided the highlights. Kim homered in the second inning, then did it again in the seventh.
Se Woong Park, a veteran of the Korea Baseball Organization, started for Korea and held the Czechs scoreless on one hit until the pitch count got him two outs into the fifth inning.
For the game, six Korean pitchers combined to hold the Czech Republic to six hits.