Korea Baseball defeats Chinese Taipei 2-0 in final game of World Baseball Classic
Moon Dong-joo throws 6 innings of 7-hit shutout ball
There was no upset. Once again, the Korean baseball team stood atop the podium.
The South Korean baseball team
Led by head coach Ryu Jung-il, defeated Chinese Taipei 2-0 in the final of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian
Games on Sunday at the Shaoxing Baseball and Softball Sports Center in Zhejiang, China.
It was the fourth consecutive title for South Korea, which had previously finished on top at Guangzhou
2010, Incheon 2014 and Jakarta-Palembang 2018. Ryu Joong-il, who led South Korea to victory at Incheon 2014, coached them to gold.
On the day, South Korea got both a win and a sweep over Chinese Taipei.
Prior to the tournament
Korea had lost two consecutive games against Chinese Taipei at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games and 2019 Premier 12.
They also lost 0-4 in their group stage match on the last two days, extending their losing streak against Chinese Taipei to three.
Eager to get back on track, Korea would face Chinese Taipei in the final, a return matchup just five days later.
The starting pitching matchup was the same as in the group stage: Korea’s Moon Dong-ju (Hanwha Eagles)-Taiwan’s Lin Yi-min.
After giving up two runs on four hits and three walks against Chinese Taipei in the group stage, Moon was
back on the mound today, throwing six innings of three-hit ball with seven strikeouts and no walks.
The Korean bats struggled against Lin Yumin in their first group stage meeting, scattering four hits over
six innings while striking out six and failing to score a single run, but this was a different story.
Lin Yumin was overwhelmed by the Korean bats, allowing two runs on five hits in five innings with two
walks and five strikeouts, while also committing two wild pitches.
The game began in inclement weather with off-and-on rain.
After a walk and a hit put runners on first and second in the top of the first inning, Korea was immediately
put in trouble in the bottom of the first when Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha) threw out a throw to second base.
Moon Dong-joo
Was hit by a double over the center field fence in the first at-bat and then gave up a sacrifice bunt to put
runners on first and third. But he got Linley to ground out to shortstop and Lin Anker to strike out to end the inning.
After getting over the early hump, South Korea took the lead in the top of the second inning when the drizzle grew a bit heavier.
Moon Bo-kyung (LG Twins) led off with a double to right field off Lin Yumin. After advancing to third on a
wild pitch, Moon scored on Kim Joo-won’s (NC Dinos) sacrifice fly to left field to give Korea the lead.
Back-to-back singles by Kim Hyung-jun (NC) and Kim Sung-yoon (Samsung Lions) put runners on first
and third with two outs, and when Lin Yumin was hit by another wild pitch, the third baseman dived home to score.
With the batters taking the lead, Moon Dong-joo on the mound stepped up his game. He quickly retired the Chinese Taipei batters without much of a hiccup, making his presence felt as the next ace of Korean baseball.
In the top of the sixth inning with a 2-0 lead, Moon gave up a double to Chung that hit the top of the right field fence, but he retired Lin Li and Lin Anker in order in succession.
South Korea brought up Choi Ji-min (KIA Tigers) in the seventh and Park Young-hyun (KT Wiz) in the eighth to protect the lead. Closer Go Woo-seok took over the mound in the ninth and pitched one inning of one-hit, one-strikeout ball to end the game. 스포츠토토맨