Korean reliever Jung Hai-young reacts after giving up a two-run home run to Shota Morishita of Japan during the teams' Group B game at the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 at Taipei Dome in Taipei, Nov. 15. Yonhap

Korea dropped to world No. 1 Japan 6-3 for its second loss in three games at the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 in Taipei on Friday, as its hopes of reaching the next phase suffered another blow.

Korea frittered away leads of 1-0 and 3-2 with the bullpen leaking oil in the teams' third Group B game at Taipei Dome. Korea dropped to 1-2 in the opening round, having earlier lost to Chinese Taipei 6-3 and then beaten Cuba 8-4.

Korea will next play the Dominican Republic on Saturday and then Australia on Monday to wrap up the opening phase. Korea must win both matches and then hope for favorable results from games involving Japan and Chinese Taipei to sneak into the next round.

The top two teams after round-robin play will reach the Super Round, where they will be joined by the two qualifiers from Group A, Venezuela and the United States.

Korea won the inaugural Premier12 in 2015 and finished in second place behind Japan in 2019.

Korea had 10 hits but struck out 17 times against four pitchers.

Korea stranded runners at the corners in the top of the first inning, with Na Seung-yeup striking out swinging against Chunichi Dragons ace Hiroto Takahashi.

Korea had men at first and third once again in the top second, and capitalized on that second chance thanks to Hong Chang-ki's two-out RBI single that put Korea up 1-0.

But Japan punched right back with two runs in the bottom second.

Korean starter Choi Seung-yong allowed two straight singles to begin the inning. He retired the next two batters but couldn't clear the final hurdle, allowing a go-ahead, two-run single to No. 8 hitter Kotaro Kurebayashi.

Choi got the hook after Shogo Sakakura's comebacker went off his foot for an infield single, with reliever You Young-chan preventing further damage by striking out Masayuki Kuwahara.

Staked to a 2-1 lead, Takahashi, the reigning Central League ERA champion in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), struck out the side in the top of the third, with superstar Kim Do-yeong going down swinging for the second straight at-bat.

But Park Dong-won tied the game with one swing of the bat in the top fourth, smacking a solo home run to left field off a shell-shocked Takahashi.

Korean reliever Lee Young-ha, right, reacts after giving up a two-run single to Shugo Maki of Japan during the teams' Group B game at the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 at Taipei Dome in Taipei, Nov. 15. Yonhap

Takahashi surrendered just one home run in 143 2/3 innings in his 2024 NPB season.

Korea reclaimed its lead in the top fifth, with Takahashi out of the game.

Shin Min-jae greeted new pitcher Chihiro Sumida with a single, before advancing to third on a groundout and a steal. With two outs, pinch hitter Yoon Dong-hee came through with a towering double to center field to cash in Shin, his first hit of the tournament.

Korea's lead didn't last long.

In the bottom fifth, reliever Kwak Do-gyu came on with one out and struck out the first batter he faced. But then he walked the next two batters before hitting Ryoya Kurihara at a 3-2 count to load the bases.

Right-hander Lee Young-ha was summoned from the bullpen to face righty Shugo Maki, but the Japanese hitter got the better of Lee with a two-run single up the middle, giving his team a 4-3 lead.

Japan pulled away in the seventh, when cleanup Shota Morishita smoked a two-run home run off reliever Jung Hai-young for a 6-3 lead.

Korea did not reach base against the final two Japanese relievers, Shoma Fujihara and Taisei Ota, in the eighth and ninth innings.

Korea has now lost nine straight games against Japan in international baseball games involving professionals.

Korea manager Ryu Joong-il blamed himself for the loss, saying he had been too slow to replace Kwak with Lee in the fateful fifth inning.

"For managers, making pitching changes is the toughest thing to do," Ryu said. "I missed my timing on sending Lee Young-ha to the mound and that's one of the reasons why we lost."

Ryu said it was encouraging to see his hitters get to starter Takahashi but marveled at the strength of Japan's bullpen.

The manager announced Im Chan-kyu as the starter for Saturday's must-win game against the Dominican Republic.

"This is no time to give up. We could end up in a tiebreaking situation," Ryu said. "We'll do our best to win the next two games."

Im, right-handed starter for the LG Twins, went 10-6 with a 3.83 ERA during the Korea Baseball Organization regular season, and then had a memorable postseason run, going 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA in the first round against the KT Wiz and then tossing 5 1/3 shutout innings against the Samsung Lions in the next round.

Im was a last-minute injury replacement for Lions starter Won Tae-in, who was ruled out with a shoulder injury. (Yonhap)