Korea wins 2-0 in final against Chinese Taipei to win fourth straight Asian Games title
In the top of the ninth inning, a questionable ball call put the game in jeopardy.
Go Woo-seok closes out the game with a blast to center field.

Despite an incomprehensible ball call in the final inning, Korea’s baseball team came out on top in dramatic fashion, just as they did in Beijing in 2008.

The South Korean baseball team, led by head coach Ryu Jung-il, defeated Chinese Taipei 2-0 in the final game of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games on Sunday afternoon at the Baseball and Softball Sports Center 1 in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, China.

With the victory, Korea avenged an 0-4 loss to Chinese Taipei in the group stage to win its fourth straight Asian Games title.

The Koreans took advantage of a six-inning, seven-strikeout, no-hitter from starter Moon Dong-ju (Hanwha) and a batting order that scored two runs early against Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yumin.

With the score at 2-0, Korea faced its biggest threat in the bottom of the ninth.

Go Woo-seok (LG), who came in as the closer, walked the leadoff batter, but one out later, Lin Li singled to right.

A strange ball call by the Japanese umpire then began with Taiwan’s No. 4 hitter, Lin Anker, at the plate. Ko threw both the first and second pitches into the strike zone, but the umpire called both balls as if they were low. He then threw a ball that was slightly higher than the first two pitches, right in the middle of the catcher’s mitt, and the umpire called it a ball again.

After maintaining his composure through the first two pitches, Goh finally slumped down on the mound, and even the Taiwanese bench laughed in disbelief.

Goh’s fourth pitch was a bit higher, but this time the umpire’s call was confusing.

The umpire’s incomprehensible call forced Kou to throw the ball into the middle of the plate to allow the batter to hit, and he ended up giving up a single to Lin Anker to put runners on first and second.

It was reminiscent of the final against Cuba at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Ryu Hyun-jin (Toronto) was on the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning with a 3-2 lead when the umpire made a strange call with runners on first and second.

Ryu’s pitch clearly crossed the strike zone, but the umpire’s hand didn’t go up, allowing two walks to load the bases with no outs. In the process, an agitated catcher, Kang Min-ho (Samsung), became impatient and argued with the umpire, leading to his ejection.

Luckily, it all had a happy ending. Like Jeong Dae-hyun, who came in as a relief pitcher 15 years ago and ended the game by striking out Gurriel to end the game, Ko Woo-seok escaped the same predicament.캡틴토토

Against Wu Ning, Ko got himself out of a jam with a grounder to the second baseman to end the game.

The game was shaken up a bit by an umpire’s playful call in the final inning, but the victory was South Korea’s.