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Reporting from San Diego -- Major league baseball gave up on Korea's Jungkeun Bong after three seasons and 78 innings. But it's salivating over the possibility that young Japanese flamethrower Yu Darvish may someday pitch here.
So when the two pitchers faced off Tuesday in a quarterfinal round game of the World Baseball Classic, it seemed likely that one would dominant and the other would be in for a rough night.
Which is exactly what happened. Only it was Bong who came out on top, holding Japan to just three hits over 5 1/3 innings to start Korea on its way to a 4-1 win and a spot in the WBC semifinals this weekend at Dodger Stadium.
Japan, the defending WBC champion, gets another shot at a spot in the semifinals -- alongside Korea, Venezuela and the U.S. -- when its meets Cuba in elimination game tonight.
"First, we're very happy to become one of the final four teams," Bong said through a translator. "For me, as the starter, I did what I could. I was very confident."
The Koreans jumped on Darvish immediately with the first four batters he faced reaching on two singles, an error and a walk. And when right fielder Jin Young Lee followed an out later by golfing a bases-loaded single to left, Korea had a 3-0 lead.
Darvish settled down after that, striking out the side in the second and retiring 13 of the last 14 batters he faced before leaving after five innings, having struck out seven.
"Three runs in the first inning. That was heavy," Japanese Manager Tatsunori Hara said. "That first inning was big."
Korea, in fact, didn't get a hit after Tae Kyun Kim's two-out single in the third, with the reigning Olympic champions adding their final run in the eighth on four walks, the final one a bases-loaded, two-out pass to Bum Ho Lee on a full-count pitch.
But with the way Bong and relievers Suk Min Yook, Kwanghyun Kim, Chang Yong Lim pitched, they really didn't need any extra help.
Bong didn't allow a hit until he mishandled Michihiro Ogasawara's comebacker with one out in the fourth and didn't allow a run until Ichiro Suzuki bounced into a fielder's choice with a runner on third in the fifth.
With the left-hander nearing his tournament-mandated limit of 85 pitches, he was pulled one batter into the sixth. But his bullpen limited Japan to just four hits the rest of the way to preserve the victory.
For Bong, who pitched for the Braves and Reds in 2002-04, Tuesday's game marked his second brilliant effort of the tournament against Japan. In the Pool A final in Tokyo eight days earlier, he pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings, again allowing three hits, in a 1-0 victory.
"The important thing," Hara said, "is [tonight's] game. We must win. What we did [Tuesday], I don't want to talk about that. The important thing is tonight."
So when the two pitchers faced off Tuesday in a quarterfinal round game of the World Baseball Classic, it seemed likely that one would dominant and the other would be in for a rough night.
Which is exactly what happened. Only it was Bong who came out on top, holding Japan to just three hits over 5 1/3 innings to start Korea on its way to a 4-1 win and a spot in the WBC semifinals this weekend at Dodger Stadium.
Japan, the defending WBC champion, gets another shot at a spot in the semifinals -- alongside Korea, Venezuela and the U.S. -- when its meets Cuba in elimination game tonight.
"First, we're very happy to become one of the final four teams," Bong said through a translator. "For me, as the starter, I did what I could. I was very confident."
The Koreans jumped on Darvish immediately with the first four batters he faced reaching on two singles, an error and a walk. And when right fielder Jin Young Lee followed an out later by golfing a bases-loaded single to left, Korea had a 3-0 lead.
Darvish settled down after that, striking out the side in the second and retiring 13 of the last 14 batters he faced before leaving after five innings, having struck out seven.
"Three runs in the first inning. That was heavy," Japanese Manager Tatsunori Hara said. "That first inning was big."
Korea, in fact, didn't get a hit after Tae Kyun Kim's two-out single in the third, with the reigning Olympic champions adding their final run in the eighth on four walks, the final one a bases-loaded, two-out pass to Bum Ho Lee on a full-count pitch.
But with the way Bong and relievers Suk Min Yook, Kwanghyun Kim, Chang Yong Lim pitched, they really didn't need any extra help.
Bong didn't allow a hit until he mishandled Michihiro Ogasawara's comebacker with one out in the fourth and didn't allow a run until Ichiro Suzuki bounced into a fielder's choice with a runner on third in the fifth.
With the left-hander nearing his tournament-mandated limit of 85 pitches, he was pulled one batter into the sixth. But his bullpen limited Japan to just four hits the rest of the way to preserve the victory.
For Bong, who pitched for the Braves and Reds in 2002-04, Tuesday's game marked his second brilliant effort of the tournament against Japan. In the Pool A final in Tokyo eight days earlier, he pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings, again allowing three hits, in a 1-0 victory.
"The important thing," Hara said, "is [tonight's] game. We must win. What we did [Tuesday], I don't want to talk about that. The important thing is tonight."
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