Good offense, solid pitching guides Korea to win over Puerto Rico

With a solid performance of their pitchers, and an offensive of 15 hits, Korea beat Puerto Rico, 6-3, and claimed its second victory of the competition. The Korean staff was dominant, allowing only 3 hits to the Caribbean team.

Like yesterday against Venezuela, Puerto Rico took the lead in the game, this time with a solo homer by Emmanuel Rivera, who hit the ball over the center field fence to put the game 1-0.

However, the Puerto Ricans could not hold the advantage again, and Korea took the lead quickly. In the second inning Gyen Won Jun ledoff with a single to right field, and Kyeong Tae Hwang followed with a hit to center field. Yu Yeon Park sacrificed and Jin Won Ye produced the first two runs of his team with a single.

An inning later Korea increased the difference with an RBI single by Hwang to plate Dong Hui Han.

And in the fourth Korea hit three hits in a row to increase the lead. A throwing error by the in a pickoff to first allowed Korea to score his fifth run.

The game stayed 5-1 until the seventh inning, when the Asians stroke again, this time with a pair of doubles in a row off the bats of Gyeong Won Jun and Kyeong Tae Hwang to add one more to the score.

The starting pitcher of Korea, Sang Hyun Jeon, had a good performance, mixing his fastball with his curve to take the hitters out of balance. Jeon would be the winner of the game in five innings of job, allowing only 3 hits and 1 run, with 5 walks and 4 strikeouts.

In the top of the eighth Puerto Rico had the opportunity to come back to the game. José Miranda reached by error, and then Emmanuel Rivera and Jay Feliciano negotiated a ticket to fill the bases, without outs. Jung Yong Yi relieved Ho Jun Kim (who had replaced Jeon), and struck out Jan Hernandez for the first out. Then Xavier Cruz hit a grounder to second base, ideal for double play, but Chan Hyung Kim could not field the ball, allowing two runs for the Caribbean, and leaving runners in the corners. However, Gabriel Cancel hit easily to short stop and this time the Asian defense completed the double play to get out of the threat.

With this score Korea has a 2-1 record and tomorrow they will face Australia (which has the same record as the Asian team). For its part, Puerto Rico is still winless after three games, and this Monday will play against the Czech Republic.