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| Park Dong-won and Soto / Photo = Getty Images |
South Korea's national baseball team, managed by Ryu Ji-hyun, was eliminated after a 0-10 loss by mercy rule in the seventh inning to the Dominican Republic in a 2026 World Baseball Classic quarterfinal at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, on the 14th (Korean time).
South Korea reached the semifinals in the inaugural 2006 WBC and finished as runners-up in 2009. The team was knocked out in the first round in 2013, 2017 and 2023, but this year's squad pulled off a "Tokyo miracle" to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in 17 years. Riding that momentum, they aimed for a third trip to the semifinals, but the Dominican Republic closed the door in the last eight.
The Dominican Republic swept Pool D and then routed South Korea in the quarterfinal to finish 5-0 and clinch a berth in the semifinals. They will face the winner of the United States–Canada game.
South Korea's starter, Ryu Hyun-jin, took the loss after yielding three runs on three hits with one strikeout and two walks in 1 2/3 innings. No Kyung-eun and Park Young-hyun each recorded a third of an inning, allowing two hits and combining for one strikeout. Ko Young-pyo, Cho Byung-hyun and Ko Woo-seok each threw a scoreless inning, but their work was overshadowed by the one-sided result.
Offensively, the lineup was stymied by the Dominican pitching staff; Jermaine Jones and Ahn Hyun-min each managed a lone hit.
Dominican starter Christopher Sánchez earned the win with five shutout innings, allowing two hits while striking out eight and walking one. Manny Machado and Junior Caminero each had two hits and an RBI, Fernando Tatis Jr. drove in two runs on one hit, and Austin Wells broke the game open with a three-run homer.
South Korea got off to a shaky start. In the bottom of the second, after issuing a leadoff walk to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., they surrendered an RBI double to Junior Caminero with one out and a runner on first — a play compounded by a slightly off-target relay from shortstop Kim Joo-won.
With one out and a runner on third, Julio Rodríguez's grounder produced another run. Later in the inning, with two outs and runners on first and second, Tatis Jr. delivered an RBI single to make it 0-3.
The damage continued in the third. Juan Soto reached with a hit and Guerrero Jr. followed with a double to score another run. South Korea had a chance to throw Soto out at the plate, but catcher Park Dong-won's tag attempt came up short. Machado then added an RBI single, stretching the lead to 0-5.
The situation worsened when, with two outs and the bases loaded, consecutive bases-loaded walks to Tatis Jr. and Ketel Marte forced in two more runs, making it 0-7.
South Korea didn't record another baserunner until the top of the fourth, when Jermaine Jones collected the team's first hit, only to have Lee Jung-hoo ground into a double play and end the rally. Ahn Hyun-min later ripped a two-out RBI double to center, but Moon Bo-kyung struck out and the chance went by.
Korea's bullpen settled down from the fourth on — Ko Young-pyo, Cho Byung-hyun and Ko Woo-seok each threw a scoreless inning — but they couldn't figure out Sánchez and never mounted a sustained comeback.
In the bottom of the seventh, with two outs and runners on first and third, Austin Wells launched a three-run shot over the left-field wall. The 10-run margin triggered the mercy rule, and the game ended in a 0-10 defeat for South Korea.
[Sports Today reporter Lee Sang-pil sports@stoo.com]
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