[ CBL Week 5 Highlight ]

Tianjin unstoppable, clinches playoff birth.
Jiangsu shows great effort, continues to play exciting baseball in Southeast/Eastern China Division

Chinese　Japanese

Week five of the 2008 CBL (China Baseball League) season (May 9th-11th) is now complete. The week was full of exciting games, including the series between the Tianjin Lions and the Shanghai Golden Eagles, who lead their respective divisions, and the match-up between Jiangsu pitcher Sun Goqiang, who is coming off back-to-back complete games, and the hot-hitting Beijing Tigers.

* This year, the CBL season will temporarily come to an end after the completion of week 5, due to the schedule of the Beijing Olympics, and will resume once again on September 5th. Games will be played in several locations, including Beijing just after the completion of the Olympic Games, to determine who will play in the Asia Series in November. Look forward to some more exciting CBL action in the fall!

【Guangdong Leopards vs Sichuan Dragons - Guangzhou Baseball Stadium】

This was a match-up between two teams that lost three straight games the week before. In Game One, Guangdong had solid pitching to start but they committed errors in every inning from the second to fourth innings and put themselves in an early hole. Although they came from behind to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh on a double by player-coach Shen Gang, the Leopards fell behind again in the tenth and dropped the crucial first game. The next game on the following day was a lopsided game. Sichuan, after gaining the momentum in the top of third when they scored six runs on four base hits and errors, they scored five more runs in the ninth to put the game out of reach. Sichuan won in blowout fashion 14-3 and won their second straight game. Although Sichuan pitcher Wu Haoliang surrendered some runners, he held the Leopards to three runs and got the complete-game victory. Game Three on May 11th was a close contest. Guangdong pitcher Zhao Xuelin pitched seven innings while surrendering only three runs and did what a starting pitcher needs to do. In the fourth inning, Sichuan, trailing 4-2, put ace caliber pitcher Zhu Wanwun in the game to keep their hopes alive. Then with two outs in the top of the eighth, Sichuan came from behind to take the lead on a two-run base hit by Xiong Xin. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Guangdong, who desperately needed to put and end to their losing streak in the home that began last week, came back to tie the game on an RBI hit to right field by Zhang Cheng to send the game into extra innings. Guangdong, who gained the momentum in the game, won the game in the bottom of the tenth on a dramatic game-ending hit by Shen Gang. Guangdong was successful in avoiding a three-game sweep and in getting their first home victory of the season in front of their fans in Guangdong.

*Click here to view photos of games between Guangdong and Sichuan from week five.
 http://www.cbl.org.cn/photo/index.asp?pic_type=60050301

【Jiangsu Hopestars vs Beijing Tigers - Jiangsu Wuxi Baseball Stadium】

The starters in Game One of the series were Gao Jian for Jiangsu and Li Hongrui for Beijing. The first two innings were an offensive battle with each team scoring three runs. Then in the third, Beijing brought reliever Zhou Jing into the game. This move turned out to work brilliantly for the Tigers, as Zhou Jing pitched through the ninth inning while giving up no runs and striking out eleven batters. The offense belted 15 hits and Beijing won the first game, 10-3. In Game Two, the much anticipated Sun Goqiang started for Jiangsu. Sun Goqiang, who was coming off back-to-back complete games, was very effective once again and pitched superbly through the first six innings, allowing only one hit and one walk. However, after allowing the Tigers to tie the game in the seventh after a double by cleanup batter Chen Zhe, he surrendered the lead in the top of the eighth on an outfield error, and the Hopestars fell behind, 2-1. Going into the bottom of the eighth, Jiangsu did not want to put the strong effort of their ace to waste. Hopstars leftfielder (Number 7) Li Xiang, who had committed the error in the top half of the inning, went from goat to hero by getting a two-run hit to give Jiangsu a 3-2 come-from-behind win. Although Sun Goqiang surrendered two runs, neither of them were earned, and he pitched superbly once again with nine strike outs, giving him his third straight complete-game win. Game Three began with the series tied at one game a piece. Left handed sidearmer Wu Meng started for Beijing and Zhang Xiang for Jiangsu. Wu Meng pitched well, giving up only one run through five innings. Beijing jumped off to a good start, scoring four runs through the first six innings. However, after Wu Meng was ejected in the sixth for hitting a batsman on the head, the Hopestars took advantage and scored five runs to take a 6-4 lead. Beijing, not wanting to give in, scored two runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to regain the lead. Li Hongrui, who was suddenly called upon to come in for Wu Meng, was able to settle down, striking out six batters in the eighth and ninth innings. Beijing won the rubber game of the series, 8-7.

* Click here to view photos of games between Jiang Su and Beijing from week five.
  http://www.cbl.org.cn/photo/index.asp?pic_type=600502

【Tianjin Lions vs Shanghai Golden Eagles - Tianjin Dodgers Baseball Stadium】

This was a battle between the two division leaders. In Game One, Shanghai jumped on the board on a two-run home run by slugger Chen Qi for his second homer of the season. But, for Shanghai, starting pitcher Yang Zhen could not get the job done. Even after getting a lead, he just seemed to give it right back. He was also wild, surrendering seven hits and six walks, and gave up run after run. Zhao Xieyi, who came in relief, could not get into a rhythm either and gave up four runs in the eighth inning. In the end, Tianjin won, 11-5. In Game Two, Shanghai hoped that pitcher Dong Shi could get the job done, but he gave up consecutive hits to the top of the Lions batting order and surrendered four runs through five innings. The Shanghai offense could not do anything against Tianjin pitcher Bai Baoliang and scattered only four hits in the game. Tianjin won 10-0 on the seven-inning mercy rule. On to Game Three, The pitching match-ups were ace Zhang Jun for Shanghai, who could not afford to lose, and Su Changlong for Tianjin. But not even Zhang Jun could stop the Tianjin offense. He surrendered seven runs through three innings, including a grand slam to right field to Du Liang in the second, and Tianjin led 8-0 at the end of the fifth. The game was called in the fifth inning due to heavy rain, which gave Tianjin the victory for yet another three-game sweep. They were able to extend their winning streak, which began in week three, to seven.

* Click here to view photos of games between Tianjin and Shanghai from week five.
  http://www.cbl.org.cn/photo/index.asp?pic_type=6000501

All scheduled 45 first-half games have been completed. Tianjin is way ahead in the Southwest/Northern China Division with a record of 14-1. Beijing and Sichuan each won two games on the road. Sichuan (6-9), remains three games behind Beijing (9-6).

Tianjin’s high level of play stands out the most. Out of the fifteen games that they played, their only loss came to the Sichuan Dragons. They’ve already earned their ticket to the playoffs. The lack of pitching has given Beijing some problems, but they are starting to play better. Sichuan is still inconsistent, but they did show what they are capable of doing in the three-game set against Guangdong in week five.

Shanghai leads the Southeast/Eastern China Division with a record of 8-7. Guangdong and Jiangsu have the same record at 4-11 and it appears that the playoff race will go on to the bitter end. (Due to league rules, Guangdong, who has a higher total score, is in second place.)

Of their eight victories, Shanghai has collected seven of them against Jiangsu and Guangdong. With their young team, games against teams in their evenly-matched division will be crucial for the Golden Eagles. Although Jiangsu began the season with a five-game losing streak, they have played better baseball in the last ten games, improving their record to 4-6. In looking at games such as their come-from-behind win against Beijing, the Hopestars are not a team that can be taken lightly. Guangdong, who went to the League Championship Series last season, has struggled in the first half of the season. Without their full rotation, they have been forced to send on a relief repeatedly, which has taken a toll on some players.

-Tianjin Lions Manager Jiao Yi
“We were able to win fairly easily this week (week five), but I don’t think things will go this smoothly in the second half when the players on the Olympic team will be back. I think that in the first half, our veterans helped develop our young players. We will have our full lineup in the second half, so all that remains is to do our best in achieving our goal of winning the championship.”

- Beijing Tigers Manager Li Bing
“Without our best players who are on the Olympic team, our mid-level players such as Chen Zhe and Zhou Jing played well for us and I think they had a good influence on our young players. As for our record, I think it pretty much shows where we’re at right now. We play six straight home games in the second half. I definitely think we’ll have a better record in the second half.”

- Sichuan Dragons Manager Xu Dayong
“6-9 is not a record that we can be happy about. With some more offense, we should be able to come up with some more victories.”

- Shanghai Golden Eagles Interim Manager Dan Wei
"In the first half, we were able to have a respectable record thanks to the success of our young players. I think they are continuing to improve. We lost three straight games this week (week five) but I think it was a good experience for us. I think that we learned a lot from it and it’ll help us in the second half when we try to clinch our division and advance to the playoffs.”

- Guangdong Leopards Manager Lai Guodiao
“I think it was good that we were able to play as a team. However, things like the weather and the fields that we played on affected our level of play and is something that we need to work on. In that sense, our record of 4-9 was partially good and partially bad. My hope is that the players can take what they’ve learned in the first half and use it towards their advantage in the second half.”

- Jiangsu Hopestars Manager Kenichi Sato (Chiba Lotte Marines, NPB)
“Sun Goqiang is the only talented pitcher on our staff. The others still have a lot of work to do. We also committed a lot of errors, which often led to the runs we gave up. I intend to use the three-month break to train each and every one of our players to improve their skills. I think that in the second half, the league will look quite different since the players on the Olympic team will be back, but my aim is to take one game at a time to try to make it to the playoffs.”