South Korean players celebrate their 6-2 win over Japan in baseball semi-final game at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Friday. / Yonhap





By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter

It's been a while since Lee Seung-yeop made a difference at the plate.

For one day, at least, he showed the world why he was the most expensive player in Asian professional baseball.

The Yomiuri Giants first baseman hit a tiebreaking two-run home run in the eighth inning as the Koreans extended their Olympic winning streak to eight with a 6-2 victory over Japan Friday in Beijing to advance to Saturday's final.

The Koreans will meet Cuba, which routed the United States 10-2 in the other semifinals, in the gold medal match at the Wukesong Baseball Stadium Saturday.

Japan blew a 2-0 lead and conceded four runs in the eighth on Lee's home run and RBIs by Ko Young-min and Kang Min-ho to allow the Koreans a shot on what now looks as the last Olympic baseball gold ever.

Korean starter Kim Kwang-hyun allowed one earned run over eight innings and struck out five for the win, while Lee had three RBIs to snap out of his slump in the Olympic tournament.

``I really had a hard time keeping my head up when seeing my teammates," said Lee who was just 3 for 22 in the tournament heading into Friday's game.

``I got lucky with the home run. I had never hit (Japanese relief pitcher Hitoki) Iwase well in my career so I was just waiting to gamble on a fastball, which came when I was behind in the count with two strikes and a ball. I didn't know at first that it was going over the fence.''

Korea, which edged Japan 5-3 in a preliminary match last Saturday, trailed 2-1 entering the bottom of the seventh. Lee Dae-ho advanced to first on a walk and reached second on a single by Ko. With runners on first and second with two outs, pinch hitter Lee Jin-young lashed a single to right to tie the game at 2 apiece.

After Lee Yong-kyu advanced to first on a single off Iwase in the eighth, Lee Seung-yeop, who was just 3 for 25 in the tournament coming into that at-bat, pulled an inside fastball over the right-field fence to give the Koreans a 4-2 lead.

With Kim Dong-joo following with a single to center off Iwase, Japanese manager Senichi Hoshino replaced the pitcher with Hideaki Wakui.

However, Ko sent a fly to left that was bobbled by Japanese outfielder Takahiko Sata, which brought Kim home, and Kang Min-ho followed with a double to center that scored Ko for a 6-2 lead.

Yoon Suk-min relieved Kim and pitched a scoreless ninth for the save.

Kim was clearly the best pitcher of the day, with Japanese hitters continuing to be confounded by the 20-year-old's mixture of a 150kmph fastball and deceptive changeup.

However, Japan managed to strike first, with leadoff hitter Tsuyoshi Nishioka advancing to second on a fielding blunder by Korean second baseman Ko and an interference call on Lee Seung-yeop.

Nishioka reached third on a bunt by Masahiro Araki and scored on a grounder by Takahiro Arai to give his team a 1-0 lead.

Japan added another run in the third, with Nishioka advancing on a walk and scoring on a double by Norichika Aoki.

The Koreans were blanked by Japanese starter Toshiya Sugiuchi until Lee Yong-kyu's led off with a single in the bottom of the fourth. Lee Yong-kyu reached third on a single by Kim Hyun-soo and scored on a grounder by Lee Seung-yeop that made it 2-1.

``The Japanese hitters seemed better prepared for me than in the first game, as they laid off the breaking balls and attacked my fastballs," said Kim Kwang-hyun, who extended his success against the Japanese hitters after limiting them to one run over 5 1/3 innings in the preliminary match against them last Saturday.

``I had to adjust and prevent them from timing my pitches," he said. ``It feels great to beat them again, but I think they will try harder to knock me around in our next meet.''

thkim@koreatimes.co.kr