(Tokyo) Robbie Perkins hit one of his team’s three homers and he helped Australia beat South Korea 8-7 in a World Baseball Classic Group B game Thursday at the Tokyo Dome.
With a 5-4 lead in the first half of the eighth inning, the Australians put the duel out of reach when Perkins slammed a long ball with two teammates on the trails.
Australia had taken a 2-0 lead in the first half of the fifth inning, but South Korea came from behind with a three-run push in their next turn at 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 home run from Robbie Glendinning.
Helped by five walks and a hit batter, the South Koreans scored three runs in the eighth to make it 8-7 in favor of Australia. However, they could not score the point that would have allowed them to equalize the score.
Netherlands 3 – Panama 1
In Taiwan, the Netherlands scored their second win in as many Group A outings on Thursday, defeating Panama 3-1.
Xander Bogaerts hit a solo homer in the third inning to give the Dutch team the lead. Two rounds later, his teammate Jurickson Profar followed suit.
A single from Erasmo Caballero allowed Panama to reduce the Netherlands’ lead, but a bad pitch from gunner Alberto Baldonado allowed Bogaerts to cross the plate in the eighth inning.
On Wednesday, the Netherlands opened the tournament with a 4-2 win over Cuba.
Panama also won their 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 match 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, Damiano Palmegiani, a Toronto Blue Jays player, had two hits in as many visits to the plate, including a three-run homer in the ninth inning.
Canada is scheduled to play another preseason game on Thursday against the Seattle Mariners.