(LEAD) (Asiad) Pitcher delivers gems for baseball gold after getting free ride to title in 2023

TOYOHASHI, Japan, Sept. 27 (Yonhap) -- Gwak Been was on South Korea's gold medal-winning team at the 2023 Asian Games -- not that people would have noticed.

The right-handed pitcher for the Doosan Bears in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) did not make an appearance during South Korea's run to the title three years ago, as he dealt with back spasms.

At this year's Asian Games, as South Korea clinched its fifth consecutive gold medal with a victory over the host country Japan on Sunday, Gwak played an integral role, throwing gems in the team's two most important games of the tournament.

First, Gwak tossed six shutout innings and struck out 10 in the 5-0 opening win over Chinese Taipei in the preliminary round. With Chinese Taipei being considered the biggest threat to South Korea's title bid, winning that game represented an important first step.

Then in Sunday's gold medal game, Gwak held Japan to a run on four hits in 6 1/3 innings and struck out nine, as South Korea prevailed 3-1 at Toyohashi Municipal Baseball Stadium in Toyohashi, some 85 kilometers southeast of the main host city, Nagoya.

Gwak held Japan without a hit through four innings and pitched around a leadoff double by Shohei Mizutani in the fifth. And with South Korea having eked out a run in the top second but nothing else over the next three frames despite a number of chances, the team needed every bit of Gwak's greatness in this game.

After South Korea failed to cash in with the bases loaded in the top seventh, Gwak finally blinked in the bottom seventh. As his pitch count crept toward 100, Japan got three singles off the right-hander, the third one being a game-tying hit by Yuki Sato.

This time, Gwak's teammates backed him up in the top eighth, scoring twice to put the team in front again by 3-1.

Reliever Jo Byeong-hyeon -- who struck out two after Gwak was pulled following Sato's hit -- and closer Park Yeong-hyun took care of the rest to preserve the victory.

South Korea's run to the gold medal this time was largely defined by its ability to capitalize on runners in scoring position. That trend mostly held true for the majority of Sunday's game, but Gwak made it a moot point with yet another effective outing.

He threw 111 pitches, just two shy of his season high in the KBO.

While away with the national team as the KBO season chugs along, Gwak still leads the league with a 2.26 ERA and 186 strikeouts. With his performance in Japan, Gwak has further cemented his case as the best homegrown pitcher in the league today.

Gwak said he would gladly give himself a perfect grade of 100 for his performance in Japan. He also said he wanted to once again thank fellow right-hander Moon Dong-ju, who pitched as South Korea's top starter at the 2023 Asian Games in Gwak's absence.

"After the last Asian Games, I was really sorry to Dong-ju. And now that I have pitched in his role, I realize even more that he must have been carrying such a huge load on his shoulders," Gwak said. "And I think I played that No. 1 starter role really well here. I can breathe now.

"I feel like I have finally completed some homework assignment I have been putting off for a long time," Gwak continued. "I thought this would be my last Asian Games, and I feel lucky to have them end the way they did."

Gwak said his ultimate career goal is to pitch in the majors.

"That has been my dream since I started playing baseball as a kid," the 27-year-old said. "I will try to improve over the next couple of years and make that jump when I am at the top of my game."