Korea Thrashes China But Fails to Advance at World Baseball Classic

Korea beat China 22-2 in its final group-stage game of the World Baseball Classic at Tokyo Dome in Japan on Monday, but failed to advance to the quarterfinals.

The game was called on the mercy rule after five innings as Korea led by more than 15 runs.

Regardless of the result, Korea, which was grouped with Australia, China, the Czech Republic and Japan, was eliminated in the first round of the tournament, finishing third in its group with two wins and two losses.

Japan and Australia advanced to the quarterfinals.

It was Korea's third consecutive first-round elimination, after suffering the same fate in 2013 and 2017.