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Late charge Seung-yuop's two-run double beats Japan
SYDNEY, Australia (CNNSI.com) -- Lee Seung-yuop drove in two runs with a double with two out in the eighth inning to lift the South Koreans to a 3-1 win over Japan in the baseball bronze medal game. The win gave the Koreans their first medal in Olympic baseball. Lee, a 6-foot, 187-pound first baseman, set South Korea's single-season home run record last year by hitting 54. His double off tough-luck pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka became the biggest hit in his country's meager Olympic history. South Korea failed to qualify for the tournament in Barcelona and finished last in the eight-team field in Atlanta. The Koreans shut down their major leagues so they could field a better team in Sydney. It worked. They not only won their first medal, they also beat rival Japan twice - once in the preliminaries, then again with the bronze on the line. Japan went home without a medal for the first time. It won the bronze in Barcelona - the first official medal baseball tournament - and lost to Cuba in the gold-medal game in Atlanta.
The Japanese sent four pitchers and four position players from their major leagues to the Olympics, but lost two extra-inning games in the preliminaries and were shut out by Cuba in the semifinals. The Koreans had to play the consolation game a few hours after losing to the United States 3-2 in the semifinals. That game ended after midnight local time on Doug Mientkiewicz's ninth-inning homer. Twelve hours later, the Koreans were back on the field, locked in a game dominated by the starters. Matsuzaka, the Rookie of the Year in Japan last season, struck out 10 through seven scoreless innings before an error led to his undoing in the eighth. A single, a throwing error by second baseman Jun Heima and a steal left runners at second and third with two outs. Lee took Matsuzaka to a full count before lining a double to the gap in left-center. Kim Dong-joo followed with another double for a 3-0 lead. It was sadly familiar for Matsuzaka, who pitched well against both the United States and South Korea in the preliminaries without getting a decision. He was on the bench in both games when his bullpen gave up the winning runs. Koo Dae-sung, a hard-throwing left-hander for the Kanwha Eagles who has attracted the interest of several major league teams, gave up one run on five hits and struck out 11 in a complete game. He gave up Yukio Tanaka's one-out RBI single in the ninth. The Koreans mobbed Koo on the mound in celebration after he induced a forceout to end the game.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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