Week three of the 2008 China Baseball League is now complete. The Beijing Tigers, who have been at the top of their division for the last six seasons and the Guangdong Leopards, who have gone to the Championship Series the last two years, have not gotten off to a good start, resulting in a lack of fundamentally sound baseball in the first couple of weeks of the season. While the lack of player depth is something that every team in the league must work with, improving the level of play will rely heavily on keeping the players healthy as well as the leadership of team management.

【Jiangsu Wuxi Hopestars vs. Guangdong Leopards-Jiangsu Wuxi Baseball Stadium】

This series was between the Guangdong Leopards, who have played all of their games on the road since the opening of the season, and the Jiangsu Wuxi Hopestars, who were successful in ending their season-long losing streak last week. This was a very important three consecutive series for Guangdong who had only one victory going into the series. Winning the series would allow them to get back on track. In the series opener on Friday, April 25th, although Jiangsu fell behind early in the game, 6-2, Hopestars pitcher Gao Jian entered the game in the fifth and pitched superbly, while striking out six batters in the five innings. However, despite pulling to within a run, Jiangsu was unable to get the big hit late in the game and lost the close context, 6-5. In Game Two, veteran pitcher Sun Go Qiang started for Jiangsu. The 37 year-old pitcher had been a star player for the team in Henan province. This year, he returned to the mound to help the Hopestars. Sun mowed down the Leopards’ lineup with his 142 km/h side-arm fastball. He surrendered four base hits while striking out eleven and pitched a complete game gem. Jiangsu won the game, 7-0, and was able to get some payback for the disappointing loss from the day before. In Game Three, which was played on Sunday, April 27th, Gu Shaui Nan, who provided the Hopestars with their first victory of the season, made the much anticipated start. However, Gu was forced the leave the game in the second due to discomfort in his shoulder. The middle relievers that followed were not effective and the Hopestars were crushed 15-6. Guangdong Leopards was successful in getting their first series win of the season and inched one step closer to division leading Shanghai Golden Eagles.

*Click here to view photos of games between Jiangsu and Guangdong from week three.
  http://www.cbl.org.cn/photo/index.asp?pic_type=600301

25-April    18:00    Jiangsu Wuxi Baseball Stadium

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Guangdong Leopards	1	0	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	6	9	5
Jinagsu Hopestars	1	1	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	5	10	3

26-April    18:00    Jiangsu Wuxi Baseball Stadium

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Guangdong Leopards	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	3
Jinagsu Hopestars	0	0	6	0	0	0	1	0	×	7	9	1

27-April     09:30     Jiangsu Wuxi Baseball Stadium

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Guangdong Leopards	1	0	2	3	1	1	0	7	0	15	16	5
Jinagsu Hopestars	1	0	2	0	0	2	0	1	0	6	10	7

【Shanghai Golden Eagles vs. Beijing Tigers - Shanghai Pudong Baseball Stadium】

This series was between the red hot Shanghai Golden Eagles, who lead the division with a record of 5-1, and the Beijing Tigers, who have struggled to get into a rhythm thus far in the season with a record of 2-4. For Shanghai, their quest for a division title will depend heavily on how they play against powerful team Beijing. However, Shanghai lost the critical first game of the series, which was called on the mercy rule in the seventh inning. For Beijing, number three batter Li Bin and cleanup batter Chen Zhe each had three base hits and three RBIs, and were run producers for the Tigers. Saturday, April 26th was “MIZUNO DAY” (Mizuno is a sponsor of CBL) and a big crowd was on hand to watch Game Two of the series. The event created an air of excitement in the stadium and this excitement continued into the game, which turned into a pitching dual. Shanghai starter Dong Shi surrendered consecutive hits in the first inning and allowed the first run of the game, but was able to settle down the rest of the way, giving up only one run in seven innings. However, Beijing’s pitching was even better. Meng Qing Yang, Beijing’s starter, pitched seven plus scoreless innings and was followed by left-handed side-armer Wu Meng, who shut down the Shanghai offense with his 138 km/h fastball. Zou Jing pitched in the ninth and sealed the win for Beijing, who won 1-0, giving them their second straight win against Shanghai. Yang Zhen was Shanghai’s starter in Game Three. His pitches did not have very much velocity but he was able to paint the corners effectively. Despite giving up six runs, he showed a strong performance, pitching the full nine innings while striking out nine. Beijing’s offense was productive as well. Number two batter, Liu Yi Jun, created several scoring opportunities in the game, assisting the big hitters with three base hits. Shanghai won the game, 9-6 and was able to salvage the last game of the series, avoiding a three-game sweep.

*Click here to view photos of games between Shanghai and Beijing from week three.
  http://www.cbl.org.cn/photo/index.asp?pic_type=600302

25-April     14:30    Shanghai Pudong Stadium

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Beijing Tigers	0	0	4	2	0	3	3			12	14	0
Shanghai Golden Eagles	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			0	3	6

26-April 14:30   Shanghai Pudong Stadium

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Beijing Tigers	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	8	1
Shanghai Golden Eagles	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1

27-April     09:30    Shanghai Pudong Stadium

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Beijing Tigers	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	10	2
Shanghai Golden Eagles	4	0	0	3	0	1	0	1	×	9	11	0

【Sichuan Dragons vs. Tianjin Lions - Chengdu Jinniu Baseball Stadium】

All the attention was on how the Sichuan Dragons would play against the Tianjin Lions who were still undefeated in the young season. In the opener, which was played on Friday, April 25th, Sichuan scored first in the first inning on a double by cleanup hitter Li You Lin and the Dragons had the momentum in the first half of the game with a 6-3 lead. They committed two errors in the sixth, which allowed Tianjin to tie the game, but regained the lead in the eighth when Huang Ke hit a two run homer for the Dragons. They headed into the 9th inning with a two run lead. However, Tianjin’s great offense answered back with four runs in the 9th to take the lead. Tianjin won the game 10-8 and extended their winning streak to seven. In Game Two, Tianjin, full of confidence, inserted their young players into the lineup. Sichuan scored eight runs in the fifth on seven base hits and the Dragons won the game, 10-5. Sichuan was finally able to beat Tianjin. In Game Three, which was played on Sunday, April 27th, Tianjin was able to refocus again and won easily, 8-0. The Lions were able to win the series and showed a strong presence on the field.

*Click here to view photos of games between Sichuan and Tianjin from week three.
  http://www.cbl.org.cn/photo/index.asp?pic_type=600303

25-April     14:30    Chengdu Jinniu Baseball Stadium

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tianjin Lions	0	1	0	2	0	3	0	0	4	10	9	3
Sichuan Dragons	3	0	1	1	1	0	0	2	0	8	11	5

26-April     14:30    Chengdu Jinniu Baseball Stadium

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tianjin Lions	0	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	5	9	2
Sichuan Dragons	1	1	0	0	8	0	0	0	×	10	15	2

27-April     09:30    Chengdu Jinniu Baseball Stadium

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tianjin Lions	1	0	1	0	1	0	3	0	2	8	12	0
Sichuan Dragons	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3

Week three of the CBL is now complete and each team has played nine games. In the Southwest/Northern China Division, Tianjin has a commanding lead with a record of 8-1. Beijing and Sichuan have the same record at 4-5, but Beijing, who has a higher total score, is in second place. In the Southeast/Eastern China Division, Shanghai is in first place with a 6-3 record. As for Guangdong and Jiangsu, Guangdong, who was able to beat Jiangsu in their head-to-head match-up, has sole possession of second place.

In week four, games will be played at Guangzhou, Shanghai and Tianjin. Guangdong will host Beijing and play their first series at home. Tianjin and Sichuan will go at it again, this time in Tianjin. Sichuan will have to play a tough series in Tianjin where the fans will definitely be fired up. Jiangsu will go to Shanghai and play their first series on the road.

As the summer approaches in China and temperatures begin to rise, this week’s CBL will once again have some exciting games to watch.

Ranking	Team	W	L	Home	Road	Total Score
1	Tianjin Lions	8	1	6-0	2-1	78
2	Beijing Tigers	4	5	0-0	4-5	57
3	Sichuan Dragons	4	5	2-4	2-1	50

Ranking	Team	W	L	Home	Road	Total Score
1	Shanghai Golden Eagles	6	3	3-3	3-0	42
2	Guangdong Leopards	3	6	0-0	3-6	53
3	Jiangsu Hopestars	2	7	2-7	0-0	34