Japanese club wins Asia Series again

Ryu Joong-il, the manager of the Samsung Lions who will take the helm of Team Korea during the upcoming World Baseball Classic, said he will prepare for the WBC with the lessons learned from the Asia Series in mind.

The Lions, who sought to defend their title in the prestigious tournament, pitting the winners of Asia’s major baseball leagues against each other, failed to advance to the final, suffering a 3-0 loss to the Lamigo Monkeys of Taiwan in the group stage.

The Yomiuri Giants, who battered the Lotte Giants 5-0 on Saturday, beat the Monkeys 6-3 in the final yesterday to become the fifth Japanese club to win the six series held so far.

“I think the gap between Asian teams have narrowed a lot,” Ryu said after the Lions finished their Group A campaign with a 9-0 win over the China Stars on Saturday. Lamigo, who beat the China Stars 14-1 on Thursday, secured a berth to the final after their victory over the Lions on Friday.

Six of the best clubs across the region participated in the Asia Series held between Thursday and yesterday in Busan.

But Ryu conceded that their lack of preparations could also be blamed for the loss to Taiwan. Michael Loree, a starter for the Taiwanese team, shut out the Lions during the game, striking out 11. Ryu said he couldn’t sufficiently analyze the American pitcher due to a lack of data.

By Moon Gwang-lip [joe@joongang.co.kr]