【Chinese Baseball League Week-7 Digest】

The 2007 CBL entered its 6th week, and the season it’s penultimate weekend. The post-season teams determined from last week, with the Guangdong Leopards and Shanghai Eagles atop the south, and the Tigers and Lions to face off in the Northern Division semi-finals.

With second place already wrapped up in the Southern division, the Shanghai Eagles set to face off against the Dragons at home. With the post-season already determined for both teams, the results of the games were not as important as previous weeks. The Eagles sent out a team of young players in order to shape them up for future seasons, but they failed to respond to the call, and lost the first two games 0-6 and 4-10. In the Sunday game, the Dragons followed suit and sent out young players, but Shanghai pitcher Xia Kangnan threw a complete game and shut them down, 4-1.

The Jiangsu Hopestars visited Guangzhou with only three victories on the season. Before the season, they had hoped to reach a total goal of four victories, and with only six games left, their chances were looking slim. They looked slimmer after they got routed in the first game 5-15, and their struggles continued through the weekend, as they fell 0-5, and 1-11. In the Friday game, the Hopestars pitching only lasted through eight, and in the Sunday game, through 7, as the Guangdong team picked up momentum moving into the post-season.

The Tianjin Lions faced off against the Tigers in Beijing, with the throne of the North at stake. Each team battled hard, with the first two games being split, 3-0 in favor of the Tigers on Friday, and 7-4 in favor of the Lions on Saturday. In the Sunday game, Lions centerfielder Wang Chao came up big with the bat, and safe-guarded the Tianjin 6-4 victory against the Tigers, giving Tianjin the top seed in the North.

After the sixth week of contests, Tianjin sits alone atop the North, followed closely by the Tigers, with the Dragons far behind. In the South, the Guangdong team perched high above the standings, with Shanghai behind them, and the Jiangsu team sitting alone with three victories at the bottom of the standings.

Next week is the final weekend series, with the Lions hosting the Eagles in Tianjin, with their division crown comfortably in hand. Beijing heads south to Wuxi to take on the struggling Hopestars, who have one more chance to claim their fourth victory of the season. The Dragons head to Guangzhou, and hope to get their games in despite the onslaught of monsoon season rains. Next week’s outcomes will provide momentum and needed optimism for the playoffs – so each team will be battling strong, no matter the standings.

RANK		CG	W	L	PCT	Tianjin	Beijing	Sichuan	Shang hai	Guang dong	Jiangsu	HOME	ROAD
①	Tianjin 　Lions	18	13	5	72.2		2-1	3-3	0-0	3-0	0-0	6-3	2-1
②	Beijing 　Tigers	18	12	6	66.6	1-2		2-1	3-0	2-1	0-0	2-1	6-3
③	Sichuan 　Dragons	18	7	11	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	18	12	6	666	0-3	1-2	0-0	5-1		6-0	6-3	6-3
②	Shanghai G 　 Eagles	18	7	11	388	0-0	0-3	1-2		1-5	5-1	4-8	3-3
③	Jiang- su Hope- stars	18	3	15	166	0-3	0-0	2-1	1-5	0-6		3-9	0-6

2007/5/25
May 25 18:00 Guangzhou Baseball Field

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Jiangsu　Hopestars	0	0	2	0	2	1	0	0		5	7	1
Guangdong　Leopards	0	0	4	6	0	3	0	2x		15	14	3

May,25 14:30 Beijing Baseball Field

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

May 25 13：00 Shanghai Baseball Field

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Sichuan　Dragons	1	0	0	0	0	1	4	0	0	0	6	0
Shanghai G　Eagles	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	3

2007/5/26
May 26 18:00 Guangzhou Baseball Field

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

May 26 14:30 Beijing Baseball Field

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

May 26 14:30 Shanghai Baseball Field

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Sichuan　Dragons	2	0	0	1	2	0	3	0	2	10	14	4
Shanghai G　Eagles	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	2	4	10	5

2007/5/27
May 27 9:30 Guangzhou Baseball Field

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

May 27 9:30 Beijing Baseball Field

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tianjin　Lions	1	0	0	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	6	1
Beijing Tigers	1	1	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	4	10	3

May 27 9:30 Shanghai Baseball Field

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Sichuan　Dragons	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	1
Shanghai G　Eagles	1	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	x	4	11	3

【MVP Information Week-7】 May 25～27 in 2007
Beijing Tigers vs Tianjin Lions	Shanghai Eagles vs Sichuan Dragons
Tianjin Lions Wang Chao/ Outfielder	Sichuan Dragons Feng Fei/Infielder
Guangdong Leopards vs Jiangsu Hopestars
Guangdong Leopards Jason/Pitcher

【MVP Commendation ceremony Week-5 (May 25）】