"Ah!" "Another case." You can't just beat Australia→'No less than 2 runs + 5 points difference must be won'

*This content was translated by AI.

After all, it's the number of cases again. The South Korean national baseball team will tap a complex math calculator ahead of the match against Australia, which is destined to advance to the quarterfinals. This time, simply winning is not enough. The harsh task of "minimizing runs and maximizing the difference in scores" was given.

The Korean national baseball team, led by head coach Ryu Ji-hyun, lost 4-5 to Taiwan in the third Group C match of 2026 WBC at Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 8th. After repeated reversal and reversal, they tied the game in the eighth inning, trailing 3-4, but lost by one point after a game.

The loss cost South Korea one win and two losses in the group stage, losing its place in the quarterfinals. According to the result of the match against Australia at 7 p.m. on the 9th, he will be able to qualify for the quarterfinals. On the other hand, Taiwan revived with two consecutive wins after two consecutive losses.

There was no need to calculate the number of cases if Korea captured Taiwan, but as a result, the situation in Group C became complicated. First of all, the prerequisite is that Japan should beat Australia. That way, Australia is more likely to lose two games like South Korea and Taiwan.

In this case, the key to the ranking is the "loss rate (loss/defensive innings)." Because it is a comparison between competing teams, the results of the matches against Japan and the Czech Republic are excluded. The reference point is "0.1296" by Taiwan, which has already finished all games. If South Korea wants to win a ticket to the quarterfinals, it must record a lower run rate than Taiwan.

Korea has already allowed five runs in 10 innings against Taiwan. In the end, he needs to give two runs in nine innings against Australia to have an advantage over Taiwan. In order to gain the upper hand in the fight for "loss ratio between equal teams," it is necessary to build an iron wall mound against Australia. Specifically, he can cross the threshold of advancing to the quarterfinals by recording a lower run rate than Taiwan (0.1296) only if he blocks only two runs or less in nine innings against Australia.

If three runs are allowed in nine innings, South Korea's run rate will soar to 0.140 (19 innings, eight runs) and fall behind Taiwan. In the end, the task given to the pitching staff is a 'lockdown' beyond 'victory'. As the owner of the ticket to the quarterfinals can be changed with each run, every inning is expected to be played in tension, which is the same as the final.

Here lies another variable called 'score difference'. Even if they are ahead of Taiwan in the run-rate, if they fall behind Australia in the relative run-rate, they can have a tragedy of being eliminated even after winning. A 5-1 win, for example, would result in South Korea's run rate being 0.105, while Australia would fall further to 0.098, leading to South Korea losing ground to Australia.

Coach Ryu Ji-hyun also said shortly after the match against Taiwan on the 8th, "The result was not good at the end of the must-win game. There are still a lot of cases left, so I will prepare those parts and play tomorrow

In the end, Ryu Ji-hyun's most obvious path to the quarterfinals is to show a perfect pitch of "less than two runs" and a hot scoring ability of "more than five points." The starting pitcher for the mound at the Tokyo Dome on the 9th is left-hander Son Joo-young of the LG Twins. Everything was on Son Joo-young's shoulders.

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*This content was translated by AI.