Sunday, March 08, 2009 10:38:00 PM

TOKYO -- Team Korea bounced back from a 14-2 loss to Japan with a convincing 14-0 shutout over China on Sunday in Pool A of the World Baseball Classic before 12,571 fans at Tokyo Dome.

Korea will now face Japan again on Monday night to determine the winner of Pool A. China has been eliminated from the tournament.

The game was called after the top of seventh inning because of the 10-run mercy rule.

Korea scored twice in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single by Hyun Soo Kim and an infield out, and added two more in the bottom of the fourth on Bum Ho Lee's home run into the left-field bleachers.

The game got out of hand for China in the bottom of the fifth, as Korea sent 10 men to the plate and scored five times on three hits, two walks, a hit batsman and two Chinese errors. Korea set up the "mercy rule" victory with five more scores in the bottom of the sixth.

China managed only two hits -- a single by shortstop Ray Chang in the first inning and a double by right fielder Fei Feng in the fourth.

Korean starter Suk Min Yoon was brilliant, allowing only the two hits and no runs over six innings. Yoon threw exactly 70 pitches, the maximum allowed by Classic rules.

"When my team scored in the first inning, that relieved any pressure," Yoon said. "I was able to relax and pitch my game."

Winning manager In Sik Kim summarized how his team was able to bounce back after Saturday night's early termination loss to Japan.

"Baseball is a game of fluctuation," Kim said. "We lost in a shortened game yesterday, but won the same way today. There was also the difference in the level of players between the Japanese and Chinese teams.

"Another key was the ability to put the game against Japan behind us and concentrate on coming back for a win tonight."

China manager Terry Collins, disappointed by his team's lackluster showing after Saturday's 4-1 win over Chinese Taipei, gave credit to the Korean team and expressed pride in his club and players.

"We did not play well tonight," said Collins. "But [playing in the World Baseball Classic] was a great experience for us. When you get beat 14-0, everything is bad, but I hope our players will leave here with the memory -- not of this game, but of our previous two games in which we played very well."

In addition to the win over Chinese Taipei, China surrendered just five hits in a 4-0 loss to Japan.

Collins said it was an honor to play against such great teams and expressed his wishes for good luck to the two advancing teams.

Korea (2-1) 14, China (1-2) 0
March 8, 2009