KB News Desk
South Korea blanked Chinese Taipei 5-0 to begin its quest for a fifth consecutive Asian Games baseball gold medal on Monday.
Starter Gwak Been tossed six no-hit innings and struck out 10 batters, while five different batters each drove in a run in Group B action at Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Baseball Stadium in Okazaki, some 50 kilometers southeast of the main host city Nagoya.
After Gwak was lifted, Jo Byeong-hyeon tossed two hitless innings before Park Yeong-hyun pitched around a couple of hits in his one inning of work.
Made up of stars from the Korea Baseball Organization, South Korea will next play Hong Kong at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Toyohashi Municipal Baseball Stadium in Toyohashi, some 85 km southeast of Nagoya.
The final Group C game will be against Thailand at noon Wednesday in Okazaki.
The two best teams from each of the two groups will advance to the Super Round, and the top two teams from that phase will meet for the gold medal at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday in Toyohashi.
With two heavy underdogs on the horizon, South Korea will likely win Group B and reach the Super Round with ease.
Gwak, who leads the KBO with 186 strikeouts and a 2.26 ERA this season, was too much for Chinese Taipei hitters.
The South Korean lineup, though, also did little against starter Lin Yi-wei, managing just a run on a sacrifice fly by Park Jae-hyun with the bases loaded in the second inning.
South Korea tacked on two runs in the seventh on a double by Park Jun-soon and a sacrifice fly by Cho Hyeong-woo.
After another sac fly by Roh Si-hwan in the eighth, Yoon Dong-hee punctuated victory with a solo home run. (Yonhap)
