TOKYO — The lopsided score notwithstanding, South Korean manager Ryu Ji-hyun breathed a sigh of relief after winning the team's first game of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) on Thursday. Behind two home runs by Shay Whitcomb and one dinger each by Jahmai Jones and Moon Bo-gyeong, South Korea beat up Czechia 11-4 to begin Pool C play at Tokyo Dome. It was the first time since 2009, four tournaments ago, that South Korea won its opening game at a WBC. On the three occasions when the team dropped the first games, South Korea missed out on the knockout stage. "These first games are never easy," Ryu said at his postgame press conference. "It doesn't matter who the opponent is. There is always some tension in the air in a game like this. Fortunately, we got a grand slam in the first inning and it made things easy for us from the start." Ryu was referring to Moon's first-inning blast that put South Korea up 4-0. The lead grew to 6-0 after a groundout by Jones and a solo shot by Whitcomb, before reliever Jeong Woo-joo served up a three-run shot to Terrin Vavra in the fifth. Whitcomb restored o