(Olympics) baseball-pitcher

▲ Ko Young-pyo of South Korea pitches against the United States in the bottom of the first inning of the teams' Group B game in the Tokyo Olympic baseball tournament at Yokohama Stadium in Yokohama, Japan, on July 31, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ In this AFP photo, Yoshinobu Yamamoto of Japan pitches against the Dominican Republic during the teams' Group A game of the Tokyo Olympic baseball tournament at Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium in Fukushima, Japan, on July 28, 2021. (Yonhap)

(Olympics) baseball-pitcher

(Olympics) Sidearm pitcher to start semifinal game for S. Korea vs. Japan

By Yoo Jee-ho

TOKYO, Aug. 3 (Yonhap) -- The right-handed sidearm pitcher Ko Young-pyo will start the semifinal game against Japan in the Tokyo Olympic baseball tournament on Wednesday.

Ko will be opposed by right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

The first pitch is 7 p.m. at Yokohama Stadium in Yokohama, south of Tokyo.

Ko took the loss when South Korea fell to the United States 4-2 in its second preliminary game last Saturday. He gave up four runs on four hits, including two home runs, in 4 2/3 innings.

Ko held the U.S. to just a hit through three innings, as his beguiling changeup induced whiffs and soft contact.

Ko will likely be kept on a short leash. Any sign of trouble early on, and manager Kim Kyung-moon will not hesitate to go to the bullpen.

Yamamoto threw six scoreless innings against the Dominican Republic in Japan's opening game last Wednesday. Yamamoto struck out nine and walked one, while allowing just two hits.

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