S. Korea loses to Japan for 3rd straight runner-up finish at regional baseball tournament

SEOUL, Nov. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea lost to Japan 5-1 in the final of a regional baseball tournament in Tokyo on Sunday, with its offense silenced and pitchers unable to keep the ball in the park.

South Korea managed only five hits while serving up two home runs in the final of the Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) at Tokyo Dome, as it settled for its third consecutive runner-up finish behind Japan.

Japan won the two previous editions of the APBC in 2017 and 2023.

The APBC is for players aged 24 years and younger or those with no more than three years of professional experience. Teams can each take up to three players who are between 24 and 29 years old.

In round-robin play, South Korea lost to Australia 8-7 on Thursday and fell 9-5 against Japan on Friday. South Korea then held off Taiwan 6-4 on Saturday, as those two countries, plus Australia, finished with an identical record of 1-2. South Korea won out in a tiebreaking formula called Team Quality Balance, which looks at teams' runs scored and runs allowed, and it set up a rematch against the undefeated Japan in Sunday's final.

Japan wasted little time taking the lead, as Misho Nishikawa hammered a solo home run off starter Kim Keon-woo in the bottom of the first inning.

Japan went up 2-0 on an RBI double by Rui Muneyama in the bottom third, with left fielder Park Jae-hyun unable to come up with a diving catch in left-center field.

South Korea had little going against Japanese starter Hiroto Takahashi, who recorded six strikeouts and allowed just two hits through five innings.

And Japan pulled away with three runs in the bottom fifth.

Taiga Kojima singled to lead off the inning. And Yudai Shoji reached on an error by Kim Keon-woo, who fielded Shoji's bunt attempt but made a wide throw that pulled first baseman Moon Jeong-bin off the bag.

Tomoya Masaki then made Kim pay for that miscue, as he launched a three-run homer to left field to put Japan up 5-0. It also knocked Kim out of the game.

South Korea finally solved Takahashi in the top seventh. Ahn Hyun-min doubled down the left field line with one out, and then pinch hitter An Jae-seok cashed him in with a single to cut the deficit to 5-1.

But that was not nearly enough for South Korea, who got just one more hit the rest of the game.

South Korean pitchers surrendered 11 home runs in four games at this tournament.