ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Not even prayer could help Team Japan.

Shunsuke Watanabe did all he could for six innings, but Team Korea broke the bullpen, posting a couple of runs in the eighth inning of its 2-1 win over Japan in the World Baseball Classic on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium.

Lee Jong Beom doubled in two runs in the top of the eighth, breaking a scoreless tie and Japanese hearts among the rowdy 39,679-strong crowd.

"The tension felt like it did in the playoffs," Watanabe said. "It definitely felt like if we lost, there would be no tomorrow. Now I can only pray."

Watanabe's words came during the bottom of the sixth inning, right after he retired the side in order. He fanned three and gave up just one hit in his six-inning scoreless gem.

With the loss, Japan (3-3) will need Team USA to lose to Mexico on Thursday to have any chance of advancing to the semifinals in San Diego, which Korea (6-0) did with the win.

Watanabe was brilliant, matching Park Chan Ho in a duel of pitchers who played like superstars pitching for their lives.

Indeed for Japan, it was pitching for its WBC life, but once the ball got out of Watanabe's hands, the game got a little out of hand for Team Japan.

Unfortunately for Team Japan, Watanabe's words became prophetic.

"We believe that we gave everything we had out there," manager Sadaharu Oh said. "But it was shown that our lineup had trouble scoring runs against real tough pitchers."

In two games against Korea, Japan managed three runs.

In six WBC games, Team Korea's pitchers have a tournament-low 1.33 ERA. Koo Dae Sung gave up a ninth-inning home run to Tsuyoshi Nishioka, but Japan didn't manage much against the Korean arms.

Japan had a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the second inning.

Akinori Iwamura was on second base, and Tomoya Satozaki slapped a solid single to right field. Third-base coach Hatsuhiko Tsuji gave Iwamura the green light, and he rounded third and headed for home.

Right fielder Lee Jin Young, who made a game-changing catch to rob Nishioka of an RBI extra-base hit when Korea and Japan played at Tokyo Dome, gunned the ball to home plate, throwing Iwamura out.

The Yakult Swallows star didn't return to the game, feeling tightness in his right hamstring. The injury was not serious, and Iwamura, who was replaced by Japan Series MVP Toshiaki Imae, did not seek medical attention.

"That same right-fielder also made the great catch at Tokyo Dome," Oh said. "I believe there is some sort of momentum, and it is going on in this tournament."

Toshiya Sugiuchi came on in relief of Watanabe, and he walked the first batter he faced in the seventh inning before retiring three straight.

The Hawks star couldn't handle the heat in the eighth, though.

After inducing a groundout to open the frame, he walked Kim Min Jae and gave up a single to Lee Byung Kyu.

Kim pressed his luck and made it all the way to third, testing the arm of center fielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo, who couldn't throw out the 15-year veteran.

Lee made it to second on the throw, and with one out and runners in scoring position, Korea team captain Lee Jong Beom stepped to the plate.

Lee delivered, knocking a shot into left-center field. The runners scored easily, but Lee was gunned out at third, trying to leg out a triple.

"I hit it and wasn't sure how far it would go, so maybe I was running a little slow," Lee said. "I felt kind of bad, but we got those runs, so I wasn't as upset about missing my run."

Nishioka's homer in the ninth seemed to invigorate the Japanese hitters, and after Nobuhiko Matsunaka singled, Korea didn't give Koo a chance to blow the narrow lead.

Manager Kim In Sik brought in Oh Seung Hwan, who was the Korean Series MVP last season as a rookie with the Samsung Lions.

Oh was on the mound when the Samsung Lions completed their sweep of the Doosan Bears, and he closed out Team Korea's WBC sweep of the Japanese with relative ease, striking out Takahiro Arai and Hitoshi Tamura to end the game, earning the save.

"We definitely know we need to lower the scores we've given up, so we're going to have to work that out," Sadaharu Oh said. "We have to bring our level of baseball up somehow."

Japan still hopes to get a third chance against the Koreans, but if Team USA beats Mexico, Oh and the Hinomaru Express are finished.

One positive from the win: Lee Seung Yeop wasn't the trigger man for Korea.

From Watanabe on down, Lee couldn't accomplish much against Team Japan after slugging an eighth inning homer to give Korea the win at Tokyo Dome.

Lee was 0-for-3 with a walk, which came against Watanabe in the first inning.

Quite a step down for a player who had homered in his first plate appearance the two previous games in Anaheim.