Hyunsoo Kim's 3 Hits and 1 Home Run, Baekho Kang's 4-Hit Barrage
Winner of USA-Japan Round 2 Match Advances to Semifinals
The national baseball team crushed Israel and took a big step closer to an Olympic medal. On the afternoon of the 2nd, at Yokohama Stadium in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, during the 2nd round of the knockout stage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics baseball tournament, the team showed remarkable cohesion and secured an 11-1 victory by a 7-inning cold game. In this tournament, a cold game is declared if the score difference reaches 15 runs after the 5th inning or 10 runs after the 7th inning. With this win, the team will face the winner of the 2nd round match between the United States and Japan in the semifinals. The game will be held at the same venue at 7 PM on the 4th.
The team’s batting lineup, which struggled early in the tournament, regained its rhythm and smoothly controlled the game. They hammered the Israeli mound with eighteen hits. From the 1st inning, Park Hae-min (Samsung) and Kang Baek-ho (kt) targeted the opposing starting pitcher Joey Wagman with consecutive hits. Park Hae-min scored home on a sacrifice fly to center field by Lee Jung-hoo (Kiwoom). The team added more runs in the 2nd inning. With no outs and a runner on first, Oh Ji-hwan (LG) hit a two-run homer over the center field wall off Wagman.
In response to the batters’ onslaught, starting pitcher Kim Min-woo (Hanwha) delivered a strong performance. He pitched 4⅓ innings, allowing 2 hits and 1 run. He did his part until he issued a walk to leadoff hitter Mitch Glaser in the 5th inning. Reliever Choi Won-joon (Doosan) took over and struck out Jack Penprase with one out and a runner on first. However, he struggled with control due to a sudden heavy rain and hit Scott Burcham with a pitch. He also issued a bases-loaded walk to Ian Kinsler, allowing the only run against the team.
The team seized the momentum early with an explosive 5th inning at-bat. In a scoring opportunity, Park Hae-min and Kang Baek-ho hit back-to-back doubles, bringing all the runners home. Israel’s defense compounded the damage with throwing errors, providing an opening for a big inning. Kim Hyun-soo (LG) took advantage of the situation. With two outs and a runner on second, he hit a two-run homer over the right field wall, extending the lead to 9 runs (10-1). Kim Hyun-soo also doubled and reached base in the 7th inning with two outs. While Kim Hye-sung (Kiwoom) followed with a single to center, Kim Hyun-soo scored to complete the '10-run difference' cold game. Kim Hyun-soo led the offense with 3 hits and 2 RBIs in 4 at-bats. Kang Baek-ho also shook off his slump from the past three games by going 4-for-4 with 2 RBIs.
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