Although the fates of all four teams involved had already been sealed, Israel, the Netherlands, South Korea, and Chinese Taipei all entered play Wednesday with one game remaining in the first round of the World Baseball Classic.
Israel and the Netherlands (both 2-0 heading into the game) had already punched their ticket to Round 2.
Meanwhile, South Korea and Chinese Taipei (both 0-2 heading into play) had already been mathematically eliminated.
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With only pride at stake, S. Korea and Chinese Taipei traded blows, scoring early and often. After racing ahead to a 1-0 lead after the first, South Korea blew the game open in the top of the second.
By the time Chinese Taipei retired the side, Korea had used five hits, two hit by pitches, and a walk to plate five runs.
Chinese Taipei wouldn’t go quietly though. In the bottom half of the inning, they answered with three runs of their own. Then, both teams scored twice in the fourth to make it 8-5.
After scoring twice in the sixth and once in the seventh, Chinese Taipei evened the score at eight. The game would remain there through the end of regulation.
In the top of the tenth, South Korea inched ahead 9-8 on a sacrifice fly before pulling ahead further on a two-run home run.
St. Louis Cardinals reliever Seung-hwan Oh closed the door with a 1-2-3 inning to end the game.
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Although Israel and the Netherlands had both guaranteed their spot in the next round, the two squads were playing to determine seeding.
In the bottom of the first, Israel sent nine men to the plate but only scored three runs after stranding the bases loaded.
Although the Netherlands has far more name recognition in their starting lineup, they were unable to get things going and those three first inning runs proved to be enough for the victory.
The final score was 4-2.
Jurickson Profar had the best game for Netherlands going 3-for-3 with two doubles. Meanwhile the Israeli team used a whopping nine pitchers, allowing most of their staff to see some action.
Both teams will move on to Pool E. Those games will be played from March 12-16 in the Tokyo Dome.
Scott Ferris covers all things baseball as a Staff Writer for Outside Pitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter @ScottHFerris
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