South Korea was able to capture their first win of Premier12 over Cuba earlier today, winning 8-4. Gwak Been got the start for South Korea, facing Cuba’s Livan Moinelo at Taipei Tianmu Stadium in Taipei City.
In the bottom of the second inning, South Korea was able to tack on six runs off Moinelo. With two runners on, Choi Won-jun singled to score Moon Bo-gyeong to get their first run on the board. The next batter would walk, and a hit-by-pitch would load the bases for Kim Do-Yeong. Kim did what he did throughout the KBO season and crushed a grand slam to deep left field to bring South Korea to a 6-0 lead. They would add more in the sixth inning, with Choi Won-jun’s second RBI single of the day plating Na Seung-Yeup to increase the lead to 7-0.
Cuba would threaten in the top of the seventh inning, loading the bases for slugger Alfredo Despaigne. Despaigne would single, with Yadil Mujica scoring to get Cuba’s first run on the board. Kim Do-Yeong crushed his second home run of the day in the bottom half of the inning, as South Korea would go ahead 8-1.
But, for the top of the eighth, Cuba showed that they still had some fight left. After Yadir Drake led off the inning with a single, Yoeklis Guibert drove them both home, crushing a two-run home run to right field. The next batter, Rafael Vinales, would also homer for Cuba to trail 8-4.
Park Yeong-hyun would come in for the ninth inning for South Korea, picking up two strikeouts facing three batters to lock down the save. Gwak Been threw four scoreless innings, allowing three hits, three walks, and five strikeouts, but So Hyeong-jun picked up the win, tossing a scoreless inning and two-thirds, walking one batter and striking out one.
The 2015 Premier12 champions, South Korea, will face Japan tomorrow at 5AM EST at the Taipei Dome in Taipei, Taiwan. Cuba, on the other hand, will look to get into the win column when they host Australia tomorrow night. The first pitch for Cuba is at 11 PM EST, and the event will be played at Taipei Tianmu Stadium in Taipei City.
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