Baseball: Japan on brink of WBC elimination after loss to S. Korea+

SAN DIEGO, California, March 18 Kyodo -
Yu Darvish's highly anticipated outing on U.S. soil ended in disappointment
Tuesday as Japan lost to archrival South Korea 4-1 in a second-round game of
the World Baseball Classic.

Defending champion Japan will next play perennial powerhouse Cuba in an
elimination game Wednesday, with a chance to join South Korea, Venezuela and
the United States in the semifinals.
Olympic baseball gold winner South Korea got to Darvish early, jumping out to a
3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a fielder's choice grounder by
Kim Hyun Soo and a two-run single from Lee Jin Young at PETCO Park.
''I think I pitched well like I did in a game at Tokyo Dome. It was a bit
unlucky for me and things all went their way in the first inning,'' Darvish
said.
The 22-year-old right-hander settled down to work through the fifth, but that
first inning proved costly as Bong Jung Keun turned in his second consecutive
solid start against Japan, limiting the damage to one run in 5-1/3 innings.
The former Atlanta Braves left-hander combined with three relievers on a
six-hit shutout in South Korea's 1-0 win over Japan in the final game of the
first round on March 9.
''We put up our best through nine innings. Our mental strength prevailed,''
Bong said. ''We are very happy that we are one of the last four in the
tournament.''
Darvish gave up three runs, two earned, and four hits while striking out seven
and walking one.
Ichiro Suzuki remained in a deep slump at the plate, going 0-for-4 with an RBI
fielder's choice in the fifth. The Seattle Mariners star dropped his 2009 WBC
batting average to .174 (4-for-23).
His Mariners teammate Kenji Jojima was ejected in the seventh after leaving his
bat at the plate out of disappointment over a called third strike for the
second out of the inning.
''I didn't understand why I was ejected. I didn't slam the bat or anything. I
just want to apologize to my teammates because we still had a chance to win the
ballgame,'' Jojima said.
''We allowed them to score first. That was not good. Darvish had good velocity
tonight but struggled with his command a little bit in the first inning,'' the
catcher said.
Japanese relievers Hideaki Wakui and Minoru Iwata each issued two walks in the
eighth, giving South Korea a much-awaited insurance run.
Shortly after getting the final out of the game, South Korean players planted
their national flag on the mound as they did in the 2006 tournament following
their second straight win over Japan.
South Korea is now 2-1 in three games against Japan in the second Classic.
Earlier Tuesday, the United States rallied for three runs in the bottom of the
ninth to beat Puerto Rico 6-5 in an elimination game and clinched a semifinal
berth.
Hisashi Iwakuma, the Rakuten Eagles' 21-game winner last season, is scheduled
to start for Japan against Cuban right-hander Yunieski Maya in Wednesday's
game.
==Kyodo