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The national baseball team made a great start by securing a comfortable victory in their opening game against Taiwan. Starting pitcher Kwak Been delivered a dazzling performance, not allowing a single hit through 6 innings, while the relief pitchers also did not give up a single run, combining for a team shutout.

Jeon Yeongmin reports from Nagoya.

[Reporter]

Burying the frustration of not being able to pitch even a single game due to neck spasms at the previous Hangzhou Asian Games—where he awkwardly claimed a gold medal—Kwak Been pitched with the brilliance of the top ace in the professional league this season.

Wielding a powerful fastball reaching up to 157 km/h alongside four different breaking pitches at will, he completely silenced the Taiwanese lineup by striking out 10 batters without giving up a single hit through 6 innings.

The national team's batting lineup scored the first run in the 2nd inning on Park Jae-hyun's sacrifice fly, added 2 runs in the 7th with Park Jun-soon's RBI double and Cho Hyung-woo's sacrifice fly, and picked up another run in the 8th on Noh Si-hwan's sacrifice fly.

Then, pinch hitter Yoon Dong-hee drove a magnificent solo home run over the left-field wall to seal the victory.

The only regret was that Cho Byeong-hyun pitched 2 perfect innings starting from the 7th to maintain a team no-hitter, but closer Park Young-hyun gave up the first hit with one out in the 9th, falling just short of the milestone.

The national team decorated their first game with a 5-0 team shutout.

[Kwak Been / National Baseball Team Player: Since this is just our first step and the very first button, I will do my best to prepare and pitch even better in the final.]

Having made a pleasant first step toward their fifth consecutive title, the national team will play their second game today (September 22) against Hong Kong, which is considered a step below them.

(Video by: Yang Doo-won | Video Editing by: Park Gi-deok)