Lee Eui-ri Pitched Well but Batting Lineup Silent... Korean Baseball Suffers Complete Defeat to USA, Heads to Bronze Medal Match

by Kim HyeongMin

Published 05 Aug.2021 22:23(KST)

Updated 06 Aug.2021 06:20(KST)

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[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The dream of South Korean baseball winning back-to-back Olympic gold medals has been dashed.

On the 5th, the South Korean national baseball team suffered a 2-7 defeat to the United States in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic baseball losers' semifinal held at Yokohama Stadium in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. South Korea lost both matchups against the United States in this tournament.

South Korea, which created the 'undefeated championship' legend in Beijing 2008, dreamed of winning 'back-to-back Olympic gold medals' in Tokyo 2021, where baseball returned as an official sport after 13 years. Manager Kim Kyung-moon, who led the team to the Beijing legend, also set 'winning the championship' as the goal for the Tokyo Olympics.

However, after losing in the losers' semifinal, South Korea failed to advance to the final and could not defend their throne.

South Korea will play the Dominican Republic in the bronze medal match at noon on the 7th. They also missed the chance to have a rematch against Japan, who lost in the winners' semifinal the previous day (the 4th).

The batting lineup was extremely sluggish. The bats were painfully silent.

The 'youngest' starter Lee Eui-ri (KIA Tigers) pitched impressively with 5 innings, 5 hits (1 home run), 2 runs, and 9 strikeouts despite the burden of pitching after only three days of rest, but he did not receive support from the offense.

In the top of the 5th inning, they scored 1 run following a hit-by-pitch to Heo Kyung-min (Doosan Bears) and consecutive hits by Kim Hye-sung (Kiwoom Heroes) and Park Hae-min (Samsung), and only managed to score 1 run in the 7th inning when the game was already leaning towards defeat, showing weakness throughout the game.