(Tokyo) Robbie Perkins hit one of his team’s three home runs to help Australia beat South Korea 8-7 in a World Baseball Classic Group B game Thursday at the Tokyo Dome.
Leading 5-4 in the first half of the eighth inning, the Australians put the duel out of reach when Perkins hit a long ball with two teammates on the trails.
Australia took a 2–0 lead in the first half of the fifth inning, but South Korea rallied with a three-run push on their next inning to bat. Those three runs were the result of a home run by Euiji Yang.
South Korea added a run in the sixth, but their rivals responded by scoring three times in the seventh thanks to a Robbie Glendinning home run.
Helped by five walks and a batted out, the South Koreans scored three runs in the eighth to make it 8–7 in Australia’s favour. However, they failed to score the point that would allow them to even the score.
Netherlands 3 – Panama 1
In Taiwan, the Netherlands claimed their second win in as many Group A games on Thursday, beating Panama 3-1.
Xander Bogaerts hit a solo home run in the third inning to give the Dutch team the lead. Two rounds later, his teammate Jurickson Profar did the same.
A single by Erasmo Caballero allowed Panama to cut the Netherlands’ lead, but a poor shot by top scorer Alberto Baldonado allowed Bogaerts to cross the plate in the eighth inning.
On Wednesday, the Netherlands opened the tournament with a 4-2 victory over Cuba.
Panama also won its opening game, 12–7 against Chinese Taipei.
Canada loses to the Cubs
Canada participates in the tournament in Group C, which also includes the United States, Mexico, Great Britain and Colombia. The Canadian team will play its first game of the tournament against Great Britain on Sunday in Phoenix.
Meanwhile, Canada played a preseason game against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday afternoon and lost 11–7.
In the loss, Toronto Blue Jays forward Damiano Palmegiani had two hits in as many plate visits, including a three-run home run in the ninth inning.
Canada is scheduled to play another preseason game on Thursday against the Seattle Mariners.
