【Week 9: Round 2 of Playoffs】

Beijing Wins Three Straight, Advances to Finals for
First Time in Three Years
Tianjin Knocks Out Guangdong in Close Contest,
Advances to Finals for 7th Straight Year
Championship Series Begins on Saturday, October 4th,
Lions and Tigers to battle for Championship!

Chinese  Japanese 

Round 2 of the CBL playoffs was played from Friday, September 26th to Sunday, the 28th, and was full of exciting games with teams battling for a ticket to the Championship Series.

Also, the “CBL Sichuan Earthquake Charity Event” was held on Friday, the 26th at Shanghai and Saturday the 27th at Tianjin. Donations were made by university students in Shanghai and die-hard baseball fans in Tianjin.

【Charity Event at Tianjin Dodgers Baseball Stadium（27th) 】

【Shanghai Golden Eagles vs Beijing Tigers
–Shanghai Jiao Tong University】

With Beijing winning back-to-back games, the Shanghai Golden Eagles had their backs against the wall. They went back home to Shanghai in hope of turning things around. But such hopes were quickly shattered by the red-hot Beijing lineup in the early going. In the first inning, the Tigers jumped on the board, jumpstarted by leadoff hitter Li Lei’s double. Then in the second, the 1-2 combination of Li Lei and Cui Xiao smacked back-to-back extra-base hits to knock in a runner who reached base on a walk, extending their lead to 4-0. The Shanghai offense was held to two infield hits through the first five innings by Beijing starting pitcher Li Hong Rui and was completely shut down by Tigers' reliever Zhou Jing from the 6th inning on. The two pitchers for Beijing combined for an impressive shutout, surrendering four hits while striking out twelve. The score remained 4-0 until the end of the game, giving Beijing a three-game sweep. Just like that, the Beijing Tigers won a ticket to the Championship Series for the first time in three years.

Click here to view photos of games between Shanghai and Beijing from Round 2 of the playoffs.
http://www.cbl.org.cn/photo/index.asp?pic_type=601002

Shanghai Jiao Tong University

【Tianjin Lions vs Guangdong Leopards
- Tianjin Dodgers Baseball Stadium】

Entering late September, the Tianjin night air was beginning to cool down. Contrary to the weather conditions, Games Three and Four of the playoff series turned into hot offensive slugfests. After Tianjin took Game Three, 11-6, Guangdong answered back with a win in Game Four, 12-4. This series, one in which Tianjin was picked to have the “advantage”, turned into a very competitive series, to everyone’s surprise, and entered the fifth and final game on Sunday, the 28th.

For Guangdong, veteran pitcher Zhao Xue Lin, who was pitching extremely well in the playoff series, took the mound for the third time in this series, following his Game Three start. Pitching for Tianjin was lefthander Chen Wei, who had been training with the Shonan Searex (a minor league team for the Yokohama BayStars), the allied team of the Tianjin Lions, and had just returned to China.

In the first inning, the Tianjin offense exploded. The Lions smacked six consecutive hits, beginning with number 2 batter Liu Jian Zhong and ending with number 7 batter Liu Fu Bin, and knocked Zhao Xue Lin out of the game. Tianjin scored eight runs on eight base hits, including two doubles by Wang Chao, in the first inning alone. They added runs in the second and third innings and led 10-0 at the end of three. Just when it looked as though the game would be decided by the mercy rule, Guangdong came roaring back. After answering back with two runs off of Chen Wei in the fourth, Guangdong was able to bunch five base hits, including an RBI hit by cleanup batter Feng Yi, to add six more runs in the fifth inning. All of a sudden, the Tianjin lead was down to two runs.

From the sixth to eighth innings, the two lefties for each team— Chen Jun Yi for Guangdong and Su Chang Long for Tianjin— pitched well and the score remained 10-8 entering the ninth inning. Guangdong jumped on Tianjin closer Li Jia Qiang to create a scoring opportunity, loading the bases with no outs. However, the Leopards were able to score only one run on a sacrifice fly before the game came to a close. They came very close to coming back against the tough Tianjin Lions, but came up just short. Tianjin won the game, 10-9, and was able to advance to the finals for the 7th straight year, appearing in the Championship Series every year since the league was formed in 2002.

Click here to view photos of games between Tianjin and Guangdong from Round 2 of the playoffs.
http://www.cbl.org.cn/photo/index.asp?pic_type=6010

Tianjin Dodgers Baseball Stadium

【What to look for in the Championship SeriesWhat to look for in the Championship Series】

Two honorable teams that have split the championship trophies with three championships a piece since the CBL began in 2002 will battle one another in the Championship Series for the first time in three years.

The Tianjin Lions, who aim to win their third consecutive championship, were able to dominate the other teams in the league, thanks, once again, to the wise player selection by Manager Jiao Yi. They finished the regular season with a phenomenal winning percentage above 90% and a record of 19-2. Their lineup, led by cleanup batter Yang Guo Gang, with Captain Luo Xu Bin and Wang Chao (who has returned from the Olympic team) hitting before and after him, is excellent at bunching hits. They are virtually unstoppable once they get on a roll. Of the 26 games that they played this year including playoff games, the Lions were able to score double digits in 12 games. If there were one concern about the club, it would be their pitching. Although the team was able to win games in the first half by relying on starters such as Su Chang Long to give them some innings and veteran reliever Li Jia Qiang to close out the games, it became apparent that the pitchers were getting tired during the second half of the regular season and the playoffs. There were some instances in which the staff surrendered many runs. The struggle of right-handed ace Lv Jian Gang, who has returned from the Olympic team, is a growing concern. Nevertheless, their ability to be on the same page, thanks to the leadership of the coaches and the teamwork of the players, is a great strength of the Tianjin Lions. In aiming for their long awaited goal of playing in the Asia Series as China’s representative, the Lions should be more than ready to play a tough series against the Beijing Tigers.

The Beijing Tigers, who were successful in reaching the Championship Series for the first time in three years, are on the rise. The players who were on the Olympic team have all returned to the Tigers. Their pitching staff includes Li Chen Hao, Li Wei Liang, Xu Jing and Wang Nan, all of whom were on the Olympic Team, as well as Li Hong Rui and Zhou Jing, who stabilized the pitching staff in the first half of the season. This is a group full of talented pitchers so much so that the coaching staff was forced to make some difficult decisions in determining the rotation and the roles of the other pitchers on the staff. Also, the return of the group of four players that started for the Olympic team will add depth to the lineup. Han Dong Hwa, who took over as the Manager of the Tigers in the second half of the regular season, began experimenting with a new lineup midway through the playoffs that has Li Lei in the leadoff spot, young phenom Cui Xiao bat second and Sun Ling Feng third. Placing these three hitters, who all are the fleet-footed players, at the top of the lineup creates a potent lineup that will cause added pressure for opposing batteries. Batting cleanup will be Li Bin, and Jia Yu Bing, the winner of last season’s home run title who has returned from playing in the Seattle Mariners’ farm system following Chen Zhe, will bat sixth. If the Tigers win the Championship Series, Korean Manager Han Dong Hwa will get the opportunity to Manage against the champion team from KBO, his home country’s league. He undoubtedly has some competitive juices secretly flowing inside his body.

Whichever team wins will be the champions for the fourth time in franchise history. The battle between the Lions and the Tigers to decide the “CBL Leader of Champions" will kick off on Saturday, October 4th.

【Comments from Both Managers】

- Manager Jiao Yi, Tianjin Lions

“The Guangdong Leopards are a young team but they are improving every year. They gave us some trouble again this year. They will continue to be a dangerous opponent for us in the coming years. Through the five games of the playoff series, I have come to the conclusion that we need to improve our defense. I would like to consider all kinds of game situations before the Championship Series begins, and work on improving our skills. We will be playing the Beijing Tigers, our long-time rival. I feel very honored to have the opportunity to face them in the Championship Series and hope to really enjoy the whole experience. I would like to go over the match-up data from past games and would like to go into the series feeling relaxed.”

- Han Dong Hwa, Beijing Tigers

“Although we were able to win three straight against Shanghai, those games were by no means easy victories. We came up on top in the end, but Shanghai had many chances to win. The team that makes the least errors and can gain the momentum will win the games. This is a very simple thing but is also what makes baseball so difficult. Rather than looking at our opponent, if we can play to our full potential, I believe we will be able to win. I believe that this will be the key for our club in winning the championship.”

【Championship Series Schedule】