Korea knocked out of WBC as Australia beat Czech Republic

Baseball

Published: 13 Mar. 2023, 15:14 Updated: 13 Mar. 2023, 17:13

Korea knocked out of WBC as Australia beat Czech Republic

Logan Wade of Australia drops his bat as he hits a two-RBI double off Marek Minarik of the Czech Republic in the seventh inning during a Pool B game at the World Baseball Classic at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo Monday. [AP/YONHAP]

Australia beat the Czech Republic 8-3 in the penultimate Pool B game on Monday, securing a spot in the knockout round and knocking Korea out of the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Korea had narrowly stayed alive in the WBC with a win over the Czech Republic on Sunday, but needed an improbable number of things to go their way on Monday to earn a spot in the knockout stage.

Had the Czech Republic won and Korea had beaten China in their final game, still to be played on Monday evening as of press time, then Korea, the Czech Republic and Australia would have tied with two wins and two losses apiece.

That would have then triggered a tiebreak, which Korea would only have won if the Czech Republic vs. Australia game had ended with the right score to allow Korea to pull ahead in terms of runs allowed per defensive outs between the three teams.

But none of that happened.

With Australia beating the Czech Republic, Japan advances to the knockout stage with four wins, followed by Australia with three wins. The Czech Republic and Korea — assuming they beat China — finish in some combination of third and fourth, securing a spot at the 2026 tournament and nothing else.

Over in Taiwan, Pool A, the so-called Pool of Chaos, ended in anarchy as all five teams tied on two wins a piece, rendering the last week of baseball sort of pointless.

With five teams tying on points — 0.500 for every single team in the group — the WBC decided things on runs allowed per defensive outs. That means they divide the total number of runs allowed by the total number of outs in the games involving teams in the tiebreak, which in this case was all of them.

Cuba allowed 15 runs in four games and recorded 108 outs for a .139 ratio to take first place, with Italy in second on .157. The Netherlands, Panama and Chinese Taipei all dropped out of the race on the final day.

In the United States, Great Britain took its second straight loss of their first ever WBC, dropping 18-8 to Canada to fall to the bottom of Pool C. Later in the day, Mexico beat the United States 11-5 for their first win of the tournament.

In Pool D, Venezuela moved up to the top spot with a 9-6 win over Puerto Rico, with Israel beating Nicaragua in their first game to take the No. 2 spot.

Korea will face China on Monday evening with nothing but bragging rights on the line, ending the Pool B group stage and pausing the Asian action until the quarterfinals begin in Japan later this week.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]