Korea falls to Chinese Taipei in first real test of Asiad baseball tournament

Baseball

Published: 02 Oct. 2023, 22:34 Updated: 03 Oct. 2023, 13:03

Korea falls to Chinese Taipei in first real test of Asiad baseball tournament

Korea's starting pitcher Moon Dong-ju reacts after giving up an RBI triple in the first inning of a group stage game against Chinese Taipei at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Monday. [YONHAP]

Defending champions Korea took a tough hit Monday, losing 4-0 to Chinese Taipei in the second game of the baseball tournament at this year’s Asian Games.

Chinese Taipei took the lead early, scoring a run in the first inning after Korea's starting pitcher Moon Dong-ju allowed an RBI triple, with Chinese Taipei batter Lin An-Ko making it to third and Chen Tsung-Che home. Chinese Taipei then gained another run during the fourth.

Umpiring a concern as Korea beat Hong Kong 10-0 in baseball opener

Korea struggled to manage any bases, coming close in the second with Yoon Dong-hee at third and Park Seong-han at second, but was grounded out before any players could get to home base.

Korea briefly held off Chinese Taipei from picking up more runs until the top of the eighth. With a player on second and third, a single to center field by Chinese Taipei’s Lin Tzu-Hao cleared the way for two more runs and put the board at 4-0.

Both teams came into the game with a win each. Korea defeated Hong Kong 10-0 and Chinese Taipei prevailed over Thailand 12-1, each ending on the mercy rule.

According to the rule, a match ends after seven innings if one team has a 10-run lead — or after five innings with a 15-run margin.

Korea entered this year’s Asiad as gold medalists from the 2018 Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, where Chinese Taipei took bronze.

They will next face Thailand in the third and final game of the group stage on Tuesday at noon local time, 1 p.m. Korea time. Korea is favored to win.

Both Korea and Chinese Taipei are expected to progress to the next stage of the competition — with the top two teams from each group advancing — but Monday's loss means that Korea are likely to face a far more difficult path as the second place finisher in the group.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]