01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, March 15, 2006

The poor play of the United States was all too clear to Mark Teixeira.

"We could have hit better, we could have fielded better, we could have pitched better," the first baseman said. "But they just beat us."

The 7-3 loss to South Korea on Monday night left the Americans in precarious shape again at the World Baseball Classic. They routed South Africa, 17-0, to advance to Round Two, and now almost surely need to defeat Mexico -- a much stronger opponent than South Africa -- for a trip to the semifinals.

"Another one of those sit around and figure out the scenarios. That's about all you can say," Derek Jeter said. "We had our chances right from the first inning. We just didn't get any hits with guys on base. I'm well aware of what it takes to win. We just didn't do it."

Hee-Seop Choi's three-run homer off Pilgrim High School alumnus Dan Wheeler in the fourth inning was the key blow for South Korea, the tournament's only unbeaten team.

Before an announced crowd of 21,288 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, the U.S. received another poor performance from starter Dontrelle Willis and failed to deliver timely hitting. Shoddy fielding made things only worse.

OTHER GAMES

JAPAN 6, MEXICO 1: At Anaheim, Calif., Daisuke Matsuzaka allowed one hit in five shutout innings and Japan beat Mexico, putting the United States in danger of being eliminated before it plays again. South Korea (2-0) can earn a berth in the semis by beating Japan (1-1). If that happens, the United States (1-1) would also make it by beating Mexico (0-2) tomorrow. But if Japan beats South Korea, the Americans could be eliminated from contention even before playing Mexico. That would happen if Japan wins in a nine-inning game and scores seven runs or less because of the complicated tiebreaker system being employed. Matsuzaka walked two, struck out two, and threw 73 pitches in his second exceptional performance of the Classic.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 2, VENEZUELA 1: At San Juan, Puerto Rico, Daniel Cabrera threw four hitless innings and the Dominican Republic one-hit Venezuela to advance to the semifinals. Cabrera struck out seven with one walk as the elimination game in Group 2 turned into a classic pitchers' duel, with the go-ahead run scoring on a passed ball by Venezuela catcher Ramon Hernandez in the sixth. Francisco Liriano, Miguel Batista and Salomon Torres followed Cabrera, and Duaner Sanchez pitched 2 1/3-hitless innings to earn a save.