Karachi's Rivera Injured - Nan Gets a Call-up

[Karachi_GM]

Nan Gets the Call

by Hasan Khan, Sports Editor (Karachi Dawn)
August 25, 2105

For the week Karachi won four and lost two, all six games happening at Muhammed Ali Jinnah Stadium.  First it was a three game sweep of the Scottish Claymores and then only one win out of three close games against the best team in the IBL, the Brisbane Bandits.  Luo-lang Wang led the offense for the week with 11 hits in 25 at bats (.440) including two doubles, a triple, and a home run.  Konosuke Sanu continued to bash the ball and now leads the IBL in both home runs and runs batted in.  Myeong-hwan Lee picked up three saves to up his total to 37, a career high for him..  Lee, Jin-suk Kim,  Rick Etheridge,  Wiyoto Susanti, and  Johão Guioni combined for 17 relief innings without allowing a run.

On August 17th center fielder Luis Rivera partially tore his labrum and is likely out for the rest of the year.  To fill his spot on the roster, the Falcons promoted 22-year-old Xian-yao Nan to take over the starting job in center.  The speedster looked pretty good in his first week of big league action.  He’s not quite as accomplished a fielder as Rivera, but he could be a solid offensive contributor.  He’ll have to be to replace Rivera’s 12 home runs and 60 RBIs.

The Falcons picked up a game in the chase for the final wild card spot and now lead London, Mumbai, and Black Forest by a game and a half while Paris lurks three back.  This week is going to be a struggle as Karachi has four games with second place Singapore and three with league powerhouse Brisbane at Brisbane.  The Bandits will be without starting second baseman Prospero Calaa and starting third baseman Yu-zhang Chaing, both of whom will miss the next couple of weeks with injuries.