USA vs. South Korea Baseball 2020 Tokyo Olympics: Odds and expert picks for Saturday's group-stage game

Team USA Baseball will try to stay hot in its second game at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Saturday morning when it faces South Korea in a group-stage matchup at Yokohama Stadium. The Americans pounded Israel 8-1 in Friday morning's opener, while the South Koreans needed 10 innings to eke out a 6-5 win against the Israelis on Thursday. 

First pitch is set for 6 a.m. ET. Team USA is listed as the -190 favorite in the latest USA vs. South Korea odds from William Hill Sportsbook, while South Korea is the +160 underdog. Before you make any 2020 Olympics bets or Tokyo 2020 predictions, you'll definitely want to see what SportsLine Olympics expert Mike Tierney has to say.

A national sportswriter whose work appears in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, Tierney has covered nine Olympic Games in person. For Rio in 2016, Tierney profited big-time. He told readers to bet Over on Team USA's gold-medal count (41.5) and Over on Team USA's overall medal count (102.5). The result? 46 golds, 121 medals and two easy cashes.

And for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Tierney hit two of his three predictions: Germany (+200) to win the most gold medals and the United States winning Under 10.5 gold medals (+110).

Now, with the Tokyo Summer Olympics underway, Tierney has analyzed every angle of Saturday's USA-South Korea group-stage baseball matchup to help bettors find the best betting options. 

He has identified an X-factor that has him jumping all over one team on the money line. You ABSOLUTELY need to see what he has to say before locking in your picks. 

Who wins Friday's USA vs. South Korea group-stage matchup in baseball? And what X-factor makes one team a MUST-BACK on the money line? Join SportsLine right now to find out which team in the USA vs. South Korea game you should back, all from the expert who has crushed his Olympic picks!

Tierney's pick: 

Baseball, USA vs. South Korea (Saturday, 6 a.m.)

USA -190

Never mind that South Korea entered the tournament with slightly better odds than the U.S. to claim gold. It's impossible to ignore the stark difference in outcomes of their opening games against Israel. The Koreans overcame deficits of 2-0 and 4-2 to eke out a 6-5 win in 10 innings after being gifted with two hit batsmen that produced the walk-off run. A day later, the Americans pounded Israel 8-1 behind starting pitcher Joe Ryan, working for the first time since learning he had been traded back in the States. South Korea's most experienced ex-major-leaguer, closer Oh Seung-hwan, was erratic. That the Koreans needed an extra frame to subdue the weakest team in the field hardly inspires confidence against the Yanks.  

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