【Chinese Baseball League Week-10 Digest 】
（Post season 2nd Stage）

The 2007 Chinese Baseball Season entered its 10th week with the quarterfinal elimination round in its final week. The Tianjin Lions and Guangdong Leopards returned home to play a possible total of three games, but a single victory would help them claim their respective division crown. Though the Tigers were on equal footing with the Leopards in the regular season, their two home losses from last week put them at an extreme disadvantage coming into the elimination series. The Eagles had flashes of good play during the regular season, and were hoping to do the same in the weekend.

Tianjin and Shanghai had their first game on Friday in Tianjin in what was their third straight week of face-to-face competition. Though Shanghai had yet to claim a victory in the past six games against Tianjin, they put their faith in the pitching of ace Xia Kangnan. Xia went the distance pitching 8 innings of scoreless ball and giving up only 6 hits. However, in the bottom of the ninth, the Tianjin offense suddenly struck, scoring two runs, putting the score at 2-1 and claiming the victory. Tianjin starter Lv Jiangang completed 5 scoreless innings and picked up the victory for the Lions. The first seven innings of the game were uneventful, with neither team scoring until the eighth, when Shanghai put a one spot up against Tianjin pitcher Chen Wei, who was replaced by Su Changlong. Su struck out Liu Tiejun to end the Shanghai rally in the eighth. Down by a 0-1 deficit in the bottom of the ninth, Tianjin cleanup hitter Liu Zhicheng reached first on an error by the shortstop to start off the rally. Number five hitter Wang Chao then hit a single to center, followed by another single by Luo Weibin, which allowed Wang and Liu to score. The runs won Tianjin the game, and captured them the series.

With two wins over Beijing from the previous weekend, only one more victory this weekend would allow Guangdong to win the series. Beijing was fierce with determination in the opening game on Friday, and relied on a strategy of “spreading many seeds to bear much fruit,” and put together a string of hits to create four runs in the 6th against Chen Junyi and win the game 5-3. Starter Li Hongrui threw all 9 innings, giving up only 3 runs, getting better the more he pitched, finishing the win with 5K’s on three earned runs.

In the Saturday game, rain caused the lighting system to be damaged, and the game was postponed to the following morning. Guangdong sent pitcher Wang Pei to the mound, who responded by shutting down the Tigers for the first 5 innings, and held the score at 5-2. In the seventh, the Tigers mounted a comeback by evening the score at 6, until Guangdong sent pitcher Liu Kai, who was recently signed by the Yankees, to the mound. In the bottom of the eight, Beijing pitcher Li Weiliang sacrificed a walk and a triple, thus allowing the Leopards to pounce back on the Tigers 8-6. In the top of the ninth, with the game and their season on the line, the Tigers failed to produce any offense, and handed Guangdong the victory and a second straight birth in the CBL Championship.

Next week’s games will be in Guangdong, with the final three in Tianjin the following week. In last year’s finals between the two clubs, Guangdong was swept by Tianjin in three straight. This year, will they have the ability to turn the tides and win their first CBL Championship? Only next week will tell.

【ＣＢＬ Championship Series （Final） in 2007 Information】

Game 1 Guangdong Leopards ｖｓ Tianjin Lions

Sat. June,23@ Guangzhou Baseball Stadium, 6:00 PM

Game 2 Guangdong LeopardsｖｓTianjin Lions

Sun. June,24@ Guangzhou Baseball Stadium, 9:30 AM

Game 3 Tianjin LionsｖｓGuangdong Leopards

Fri. June,29@ Tianjin Baseball Stadium, 6:00 PM

Game 4 Tianjin LionsｖｓGuangdong Leopards

Sat. June,30@ Tianjin Baseball Stadium, 6:00 PM

Game 5 Tianjin LionsｖｓGuangdong Leopards

Sat. July,1@ Tianjin Baseball Stadium, 9:30 AM

【CBL History of Champion team (match Team）】

２００２		Tianjin Lions （Beijing Tigers）
２００３		Beijing Tigers （Tianjin Lions）
２００４		Beijing Tigers （Tianjin Lions）
２００５		Beijing Tigers （Tianjin Lions）
２００６		Tianjin Lions （Guangdong Leopards ）
２００７		,?

RANK		CG	W	L	PCT	Tianjin	Shang hai	HOME	ROAD
①	GO to the final	3	3	0	1000		3-0	1-0	2-0
③	Shanghai G 　 Eagles	2	0	3	0	0-3		0-2	0-1

RANK		CG	W	L	PCT	Guang dong	Beijing	HOME	ROAD
①	GO to the final	4	3	1	750		3-1	1-1	2-0
②	Beijing 　 Tigers	4	1	3	250	1-3		0-2	1-1

2007/6/15
June,15 18:00 Tianjin Baseball Stadium

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Shanghai G　Eagles	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	7	3
Tianjin　Lions	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2x	2	6	1

June,15 18:00 Guangdong Baseball Stadium

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Beijing　Tigers	1	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	1	5	13	0
Guangdong　Leopards	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	7	1

2007/6/16

June,16 18:00 Guangdong Baseball Stadium

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Beijing　Tigers	2	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	6	8	1
Guangdong　Leopards	0	2	1	0	2	1	0	2	x	8	6	2

【(Post season 2nd stage) MVP Information Week-10】 June 15～16 in 2007

【Tianjin area】

Tianjin Lions vs Shanghai G Eagles

Tianjin Lions Luo Yu Bin/Outfielder

【Guangdong area】

Guangdong Leopards vs Beijing Tigers

Guangdong Leopards Bobby/Outfielder

【MVP Commendation ceremony Week-9 （June 1）】