【Chinese Baseball League – Week 4 Digest】

Over the May Golden Week holiday, the 2007 Chinese Baseball League entered its fourth week. The Tianjin Lions returned home to face the Sichuan Dragons. The Shanghai Eagles were also on home turf to face the Hopestars, as the two different matchups and venues attracted much attention. Beijing headed south after their set against Shanghai last week, visiting the Leopards in Guangdong. Despite less than ideal weather, with constant rain clouds overhead, the games proceeded smoothly with spectacular performances from each team, and surprise upsets to complicate the standings.

Coming off a 2-1 record against the Sichuan Dragons last week, the Tianjin Lions were hoping homefield advantage would give them momentum to pull away in from the Tigers atop the Northern conference standings. However, as baseball is filled with the unpredictable, the Sichuan Dragon bats came alive, with Feng Fei hitting two homeruns, and behind the stellar pitching performances of Chen Kun and Zhu Wanyun, the Dragons won game 1 by the score of 4-3, and game 3 by the score of 7-2. In game two, the Dragons fell victim to multiple errors in the outfield, losing 6-11, but were lucky to escape with two victories on the Lions home field. After this weekend’s set, the season series between the two teams was split at three apiece. With two losses on the weekend, the Lions dropped in the standings, and now sit with the Tigers atop the Northern division with equal records.

After several weeks on the road, the Guangdong Leopards finally made it back home to play at Huangcun Field. However, the first game was rained out, forcing the season’s first doubleheader on Saturday, with each game lasting 7 innings. In the second game of the day, Guangdong pitcher Wang Junyi picked up a complete game win, his first of the season. In the remaining two games, the Leopards offense faltered, giving rout to 3-5 and 2-4 losses. With two wins on the weekend, the Tigers caught up to the Lions, and now share the top of the standing with them.

After several weeks on the road, the Guangdong Leopards finally made it back home to play at Huangcun Field. However, the first game was rained out, forcing the season’s first doubleheader on Saturday, with each game lasting 7 innings. In the second game of the day, Guangdong pitcher Wang Junyi picked up a complete game win, his first of the season. In the remaining two games, the Leopards offense faltered, giving rout to 3-5 and 2-4 losses. With two wins on the weekend, the Tigers caught up to the Lions, and now share the top of the standings with them.

The Eagles took on the Hopestars at home in an important series – since the Hopestars were a game ahead of the Eagles, a series win by the Hopestars would most likely help them lock in a playoff berth. Not to be denied, the Eagles sent their best and brightest to the field, with stars Chen Qi and Zhang Yufeng playing the field in all three games, and pitchers Zhang Li, Chen Haifeng, Xia Kangnan, and Zhangjun leading the charge en route to 11-0, 10-3, and 3-2 victories. With the sweep, the Eagles took second place in the Southern standings. Eagles pitcher Zhang Li added a nine-inning, complete game effort, improving on his impressive stats this season. The Hopestars vacillated under weak pitching and poor defense, and will face a tough road back up the standings.
After the fourth week of games, each team is geared up for delivering top performances, and the outcome of every game hangs in suspense. In the Northern standings, the Lions and the Tigers share equal 8-4 records atop the leaderboard. In the Southern standings, the Leopards lead with a 7-5 record, with the Eagles right behind them at 5-7.

In next week’s games, even more spectacular displays of baseball will be on display for fans. The Tigers will be on their third consecutive roadtrip at Chengdu facing the Dragons, with each team fighting for position in the standings. The Lions will travel to Wuxi with strong intentions to stride atop the standings with wins over the Hopestars. If the Hopestars can make adjustments in their pitching, they might have a chance. The Shanghai Eagles will face the Leopards in Guangzhou with two games separating the two in the standings. With a stroke of lightning, the tides may turn, and give either team the advantage in getting the win.

RANK		CG	W	L	PCT	Tianjin	Beijing	Sichuan	Shang hai	Guang dong	Jiangsu	HOME	ROAD
①	Tianjin 　Lions	12	8	4	666		2-1	3-3	0-0	3-0	0-0	6-3	2-1
②	Beijing 　Tigers	12	8	4	666	1-2		2-1	3-0	2-1	0-0	2-1	6-3
③	Sichuan 　Dragons	12	5	7	416	3-3	1-2		0-0	0-0	1-2	1-2	4-5

RANK		CG	W	L	PCT	Tianjin	Beijing	Sichuan	Shang hai	Guang dong	Jiangsu	HOME	ROAD
①	Guangdong 　Leopards	12	7	5	583	0-3	1-2	0-0	3-0		3-0	1-2	6-3
②	Shanghai G 　 Eagles	12	5	7	416	0-0	0-3	0-0		0-3	5-1	3-6	2-1
③	Jiang- su Hope- stars	12	3	9	25	0-0	0-0	2-1	1-5	0-3		3-6	0-3

2007/5/4
May 4　18：00　Tianjin Baseball Field

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

May 4　14：30　Shanghai Baseball Field

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Jiangsu　Hopestars	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			0	6	2
Shanghai G　Eagles	0	2	0	0	0	1	x			11	10	0

2007/5/5
May 5 18：00 Guangzhou Baseball Field

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Beijing Tigers	0	0	0	0	1	1	0			2	6	0
Guangdong　Leopards	0	0	0	2	0	1	x			11	10	3

May 5　18：00　Tianjin Baseball Field

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Sichuan　ragons	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	2	0	6	7	4
Tianjin　Lions	0	0	0	2	4	3	0	2	x	11	15	2

May 5　14：30　Shanghai Baseball Field

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Jiangsu　Hopestars	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	3	6	1
Shanghai G　Eagles	0	0	0	2	2	6	0	0	x	10	10	4

May 5　9：00　　Guangzhou Baseball Field

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

2007/5/6
May 6 9：30 　Tianjin Baseball Field

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Sichuan　ragons	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	5	7	14	0
Tianjin　Lions	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	2	7	1

May 6 9：30 　Shanghai Baseball Field

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Jiangsu　Hopestars	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	3	2
Shanghai G　Eagles	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	x	3	10	3

May 6 9：30 　Guangzhou Baseball Field

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

【MVP Information】 May 4～6 in 2007
Guangdong Leopards vs Beijing Tigers	Shanghai Eagles vs Jiangsu Hopestars
Beijing Tigers Jia Yu Bing/ Outfielder	Shanghai Eagles Li Chao/Iinfielder
Tianjin Lions vs Sichuan Dragons
Sichuan Dragons Feng Fei/Outfielder

【Week-3 MVP Commendation ceremony（May 4）】