Japan defeated South Korea 4-3 on Sunday in the second round of the Asian Olympic qualifying tournament, winning the matchup of the top teams in the tournament.
Japanese pitchers Yoshihisa Naurse, Kenshin Kawakami, Hitoki Iwase and Koji Uehara gave up three runs on six hits as Japan held off a talented South Korean squad in a game that lasted nearly four hours.
Shinnosuke Abe knocked in a key run in the third and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, while Tokyo Giants teammate Uehara pitched a perfect ninth for the save.
Young-min Ko homered in the first to give South Korea an early lead and scored two runs, but his misplayed grounder in the second inning gave Japan a run, putting the Japanese ahead 2-1 – a lead they would not relinquish.
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