South Korea captures gold in baseball
Jim Armstrong, Associated Press, Busan, South Korea
Kim Jong-kook's two-run double in the fourth inning tied the game and gold medal favorite South Korea went on to beat Taiwan 4-3 in the Asian Games baseball tournament final on Wednesday.
Kim, who plays for Kia Tigers in the Korean League, doubled down the third base line with runners on first and second to tie the game in the fourth.
Taiwan manager Yang Shien-ming brought in Los Angeles Dodgers farmhand Kuo Hung-chih, who walked in a run with the bases loaded. Yang then replaced Kuo with Lin Yueh-ping, who threw a wild pitch with a runner on third as South Korea took a 4-2 lead.
Lee Seung-ho came on in the fourth in relief of starter Park Myung-hwan and Lim Chang-yong, who held Taiwan scoreless until the top of the eighth, got the win.
Lim was taken out after giving up a leadoff double to Wang Chuan-chia in the eighth.
Veteran Song Jin-woo came on and got the first two outs before Hsieh Chia-Shian singled up the middle to pull Taiwan within a run. Song retired the side in the ninth to preserve the win.
Wang Chuan-chia and Huang Chung-yi hit back-to-back RBI singles in the top of the third to give Taiwan a 2-1 lead.
South Korea scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second. Hong Sung-heon hit a sharp single to left and Park Jae-hong scored from second on a close play at the plate.
The South Korean team, made up of the top players from the Korean League, was the gold-medal favorite heading into the tournament and went undefeated in the preliminary round. They defeated Japan 13-1 in the final four years ago.
In the bronze-medal game, Go Kida and Satoshi Kubota hit two- run homers as Japan defeated China 7-4.
Kubota, who plays for Kawasaki Steel in Japan's corporate league, hit a pitch from Chinese reliever Lai Guo Jun in the eighth inning into the right field stands at Sajik Stadium to give Japan a 7-4 lead.
"It's disappointing not to win the gold," said Japan manager Toshihiko Goto. "We had a young, inexperienced team compared to South Korea but wanted our players to get some experience for the Athens Olympics and this team is in transition."