TOKYO — Korea blew an early lead and lost to the defending champion Japan 8-6 at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) on Saturday. Korea scored three times in the top of the first inning at Tokyo Dome but its pitchers couldn't keep the team in front. Japan smoked four home runs, including two by Seiya Suzuki. Shohei Ohtani also went deep and scored three times. Korea struck out 15 times against five Japanese pitchers. Korea, who had started the tournament with an 11-4 win over Czechia on Thursday, will next play Chinese Taipei at noon Sunday. The finale will be against Australia at 7 p.m. Monday. The top two nations at the conclusion of pool play will qualify for the quarterfinals. Korea opened the game with three straight singles off starter Yusei Kikuchi, the third being an RBI knock by Lee Jung-hoo. Then with two outs in the inning, Moon Bo-gyeong lined a double to center to cash in two more runs for a 3-0 lead. Center fielder Seiya Suzuki failed to keep the sinking liner in front of him, allowing both runners aboard to come home easily as the ball rolled toward the warning track. But Japan