South Korea fell to the Netherlands 5-0 at the World Baseball Classic on Tuesday, its second straight loss that all but dashed its hopes of advancing further.
Jurickson Profar and Randolph Oduber each blasted a two-run home run before the shell-shocked crowd at Gocheok Sky Dome, where the first round action for Pool A nations is under way.
The Netherlands touched South Korean pitching for 11 hits, while South Korea managed only six hits.
(Yonhap)
Earlier Tuesday, Israel defeated Chinese Taipei 15-7 for its second consecutive win, taking another step toward a spot in the next stage.
South Korea, which lost to Israel 2-1 on Monday, will face Chinese Taipei on at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in its final Pool A game.
The top two nations from the round robin play will reach the second round in Tokyo. With two losses, the best South Korea can hope for is to beat Chinese Taipei and get into a tiebreaker game Friday.
(Yonhap photo capture)
None of that will matter, though, if the Netherlands beats Chinese Taipei on Wednesday. In that case, the Netherlands and Israel will represent Pool A in the second round, and the two countries will meet Thursday to determine who will get the top seed, rendering the South Korea-Chinese Taipei showdown meaningless.
South Korea has been trying to erase the memory of the frustrating first round exit at the 2013 WBC, which all started with a 5-0 loss to the Netherlands in the first game. And as fate would have it, the losing score was the same on Tuesday, with the South Korean bats just as cold as that were four years ago. (Yonhap)
