"Three runs and it's over." The tragedy of Korean baseball brought about by the defeat against Taiwan → Ho Korea is an absolute advantage.

*This content was translated by AI.

Korean baseball went over the edge of the cliff and was caught in the back of its head. The aftermath of the defeat against Taiwan on the 8th is much more fatal than expected. Now, South Korea will have to not only win but also achieve the harsh conditions of two runs or less in nine innings. You even have to beat Australia by more than five points.

The Korean baseball team, led by head coach Ryu Ji-hyun, lost 4-5 in the third Group C match of the 2026 WBC (World Baseball Classic) at Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 8th. He dramatically tied the score in the eighth inning, trailing 3-4 after repeated blood clots, but lost by one point after a game.

The loss eliminated South Korea's qualification for the quarterfinals with one win and two losses. After the 2009 WBC, he caught the first match against the Czech Republic in 17 years, but the joy did not last long. It lost 6-8 against Japan on the 7th and was also caught by Taiwan on the 8th.

In fact, the game on the 8th was a very important game, with Taiwan and South Korea having rice for a long time. Both teams cited the game as the biggest watershed in achieving Miami, where the second round will be held, and predicted an all-out war. But the result was disastrous. He couldn't overcome the crisis of the game, and the batters were silent at every decisive opportunity.

The problem is that the scars left by the contents of the defeat are too greater than the consequences of the defeat. If the records are the same, allowing Taiwan five runs in the run-rate, which is the decisive criterion for determining the ranking, eventually hampered it. If the match against Taiwan was won, the regret would remain stronger because the victory over Australia could have been a clear formula of advancing to the quarterfinals.

The final group match against Australia, which will be held at Tokyo Dome at 7 p.m. on the 9th, is a problem. In order for Korea to win a ticket to the quarterfinals, simply beating Australia is not enough. At the same time, he won a "great victory of more than five points" against Australia, and at the same time, he was given harsh conditions to block it with "less than two runs" in nine innings. As soon as they allow three runs, South Korea will have to pack up, even if they win, they will be pushed back from the run rate.

Australia, on the other hand, has an absolute advantage. Australia, which already has the possibility of advancing to the quarterfinals on its own, could lose Korea's fighting spirit if it scores three points against Korea. In contrast to Korean pitchers taking the mound under the pressure of "losses are eliminated soon," Australian hitters have a psychological advantage to reverse the impatience of Korean pitchers without being deceived by handouts.

The bigger problem is that Australia's bat is more fierce than expected. Australia showed off its strength to score three points by hitting eight hits in a game against Japan (4-3 Japan victory) on the 8th, including two home runs. In terms of the number of hits (8), he was rather ahead of Japan (5), the "champion candidate."

In particular, he showed off his firepower by hitting two home runs against Daisei Ota (26, Yomiuri Giants), a powerful bullpen pitcher who ranked first in the most holds in the Japanese Central League in the top of the ninth inning. Daisei's maximum speed on the day was 95.3 miles per hour, indicating the power of Australian batters.

At 7 p.m. on the 9th, the whole nation's attention is on the mound against Australia to see if Korean baseball can write a miraculous survival drama through the seemingly impossible arithmetic probability.

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*This content was translated by AI.