Ryu Hyun-jin, who was good only in the first ⅔, allowed three runs in the first inning, and early steel plate → In fact, the last game of Kukdae ended

*This content was translated by AI.

The last dance of Korean baseball's "symbol" Ryu Hyun-jin (39, Hanwha Eagles) as a national team ended unfortunately. He started the quarterfinals by fate, but he came down the mound without even holding out two innings.

Ryu Hyun-jin started against the Dominican Republic in the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinals at Rondipo Park in Miami, Florida, at 7:30 a.m. on the 14th (Korea time), but he was sluggish with three hits, two walks, one strikeout and three runs in one ⅔ inning.

The start was near perfection. In the bottom of the first inning, Ryu Hyun-jin showed off his control as much as he did in his heyday against Dominica's luxurious lineup. He struck out leadoff hitter Fernando Tatis Jr. by stabbing a sharp curve at the end of the full-count game, and made a "three-out" inning by dealing with subsequent batters Ketel Marte and Juan Soto as infield grounders, respectively.

However, he failed to overcome the wall in the second round. The walk given to leadoff hitter Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was a cause of concern. Later, he seemed to take a breather by handling Manny Machado with a fly ball, but he allowed a timely double to Junior Caminero. It was painful to give up the first run on Guerrero Jr.'s exquisite sliding in the home game.

Ryu Hyun-jin, who was shaken, later increased the outcount by grounding Julio Rodriguez, but he failed to stabilize by allowing Agustin Ramirez to walk again. Then, Heraldo Perdomo hit and Tatis Jr., who met again, made a timely hit, and the score quickly widened to 0-3.

In the end, the Korean bench moved. In a crisis with two outs and runners on the first and second bases, manager Ryu Ji-hyun threw a winning move to lower Ryu Hyun-jin and put in Noh Kyung-eun. Fortunately, Noh Kyung-eun struck out Marte to prevent additional runs, but the early Red Card of the most trusted starting card for South Korea was a big scar.

This tournament has been expected to be the stage for Ryu Hyun-jin's retirement from the national team. Standing on the mound in Miami with the national flag again in his late 30s, he vowed to pitch all his might, but failed to overcome Dominica's powerful firepower. If South Korea loses and is eliminated as it is, today's game is expected to be the last national appearance of the greatest left-hander in Korean baseball history.

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*This content was translated by AI.