Korea hit four home runs and defeated Czechia, 11-4, in the first game for either team in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. The four homers marked a WBC high for Korea.
Two of the long balls came off the bat of Shay Whitcomb, a Houston Astros infielder who split his 2025 season between the majors and the minor leagues. The 27-year-old drove in 3 runs, second on Korea for the day behind first baseman Bo Gyeong Moon, who had 5 RBIs and 2 runs on a pair of hits in 3 at-bats.
Korea struck early with a grand slam in the first inning from Moon, then scored once in each of the next two innings. Czechia starting pitcher Daniel Padysak recorded just one out before he was lifted, but the rest of their pitchers did not fare much better, allowing a run in all but two innings of the contest.
Czechia scored 4 runs but could have scored more; instead, they left the bases loaded in the second inning as starting pitcher, right-hander Hyeong Jun So, escaped the jam. Czechia then quickly fell even further behind Korea. Terrin Vavra, who has 68 games of MLB experience with the Orioles, gave Czechia its first runs of the tournament with a 3-run home run in the fifth inning.
Australia—Czechia later
The third Pool C game in Tokyo will be between Australia (1-0) and Czechia at 10 p.m. ET on FS1. Defending champion Japan opens play in Group C on Friday against Chinese Taipei.
The top two teams in the group advance to the quarterfinals in the United States, joining the top two in the other three groups.
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