Game 100: Montreal scores three in the first and things seem to be going well. Chuck Finley falters in the sixth, however, and the bullpen is completely ineffective in the seventh. LA scores six runs over those two frames and rallies for a 9-6 win.

Game 101: Dave Burba relieves Willie Blair in the fifth, faces five batters, four get hits, all score. Eddie Guardado allows three more runs of his own. Montreal falls short, 11-9. On the bright side, Bret Boone's bat is starting to come back. He homers for the third time this season, drives home three, and has his BA over .250.

Game 102: Alex Fernandez has his second straight good start, striking out eight Looters, and the Spectres get home runs from Tony Phillips and Jay Buhner as they salvage the finale with a 4-2 win.

Though already on the West Coast, Montreal heads home to host Orange County next. BRILLIANT!!!

Game 103: Jay Buhner and Eddie Murray each hit two homers as the Spectres take the opener from Orange County, 9-4. Perhaps the most surprising part of the game was that the Spectre bullpen contributed three shutout innings in relief of winner Scott Erickson (7-11).

Game 104: Montreal starts slowly but finishes strong, scoring nine times in the sixth through eighth innings to rally for a 9-6 win over Orange County. Chuck Finley gets his 12th win; Jay Buhner blasts two more homers.

Game 105: Willie Blair's latest start goes, well, about the way you'd expect a Willie Blair start to go. Montreal fails to complete the sweep, instead suffering a 9-3 blowout loss.

The Spectres are headed BACK to the west coast to face Frisco. BRILLIANT!!!!

Game 106: Jay Buhner continues to terrorize opposing pitchers; he doubles, homers, and drives in four runs to back Alex Fernandez as the Spectres take the opener at Candlestick, 7-3. Ken Griffey Jr. adds a home run, his fourth. Fernandez improves to 12-6.

Game 107: Brady Anderson breaks a scoreless tie in the eighth inning with a solo home run; Bob Wickman and Rick Aguilera each pitch a scoreless inning to preserve a 1-0 win for Scott Erickson (8-11).

Game 108: Jay Buhner has three more hits, including his 34th home run, a solo shot in the ninth that breaks a 5-5 tie. Rick Aguilera gets three groundouts on 10 pitches in the bottom half and earns his 27th save.

Montreal returns home to face Cincinnati.

Game 109: Sandy Alomar's two run homer in the sixth gives the Stingers a 4-2 lead over Montreal. The Spectres get one run back in the bottom half of the inning on a double play grounder, and then tie the score in the eighth on a sacrifice fly. Eddie Guardado pitches a scoreless ninth; the Spectres put two on but can't score. Scott Sanders allows a two-out single in the 10th but no more. The Spectres load the bases but can't get a run home. Sanders pitches a 1-2-3 eleventh, striking out two batters. Bret Boone is hit by pitch to start the 11th, moves to second on a sacrifice, and then scores the winner ahead of Brady Anderson, who lines one over the wall in right.

Game 110: Alex Fernandez has a setback, and is totally outclassed by Cincinnati's Tyler Green. Eddie Taubnesee has three hits for Montreal but tellingly accounts for no runs as the Stingers even the series with a 4-2 win.

Game 111: The usually cooperative Stingers bash Scott Erickson for two in the first and four more in the second. Montreal's wearying bullpen is forced to toss seven innings and the bats can't catch up. Cincy wins, 9-5.

Off to Houston to face the Lone Stars.

Game 112: Mark Portugal does it all; he pitches eight shutout innings AND drives home a run with a double (his seventh of the season). Chuck Finley stands no chance; Houston wins 5-0.

Game 113: Bret Boone homers, but his teammates do nothing; 10-game loser Dave Mlicki strikes out 10 Spectres and beats Montreal 5-1.

Game 114: The Spectres continue to excel at the "swing and miss" play, but not much else. Carlos Perez strikes out nine Montreal batters in five innings of work, and Robb Nen suffers his first blown save of the season as the Lone Stars complete a sweep with a 5-3 win. Ken Caminiti homers and doubles for Montreal.

The Spectres return home to host the St. Louis Blue Storm.

Game 115: Scott Erickson is brilliant for eight innings and Eddie Murray drives in three runs as the Spectres snap a five-game skid with a 4-3 nailbiter over St. Louis. Rick Aguilera allows a two-run homer in the ninth but holds on for his 28th save.

Game 116: Rick Aguilera suffers his fourth blown save, choking up a 4-3 lead in the ninth, and the Blue Storm goes on to win in 12, 5-4. Ray Lankford drives home the winning run; Ron Karkovice strikes out to end the game with men on first and second.

Game 117: Greg Maddux improves to 15-1 with eight strong innings against the Spectres; Willie Blair tries but falls to 3-11. St. Louis wins, 8-3. Ken Griffey Jr. hits his 6th home run. Considering he's been on the roster for 36 games now, that's not much of an achievement.

Montreal heads to Pittsburgh to face the Melons.

Game 118: This one is over early. Montreal is retired 1-2-3 in the first by Hideo Nomo, and the Melons put four on the board in the bottom half off Alex Fernandez. Nomo goes on to strike out 13 in a complete game shutout won by Pittsburgh, 8-0.

Game 119: Our old nemesis Sid Fernandez, 1-8 on the season, pitches spectacularly for five innings to earn his second win of the season as the Melons pound Scott Erickson for six runs by the fouth inning to win 6-1.

Game 120: Brady Anderson hits a two-run homer and Chuck Finley throws eight strong innings as the Spectres salvage the finale in Pittsburgh, 3-1.

The Spectres head across state to Philly.

Game 121: Brady Anderson hits another home run, Jay Buhner drives home two, and Eddie Guardado tosses four shutout innings in relief of Dave Burba as the Spectres defeat the Keystones 6-5. Rick Aguilera earns his 30th save.

Game 122: Alex Fernandez gets shelled again and the Keystones roll to a 13-1 victory.

Game 123: An error by Eddie Murray, only his second of the season, allows Philly to score three times in the eighth to tie the score at six. Neither team scores in the ninth, but Eddie Taubensee leads off the 10th with a single. The threat is extinguished immediately as Edgardo Alfonzo bounces into a double play. Bret Boone, pinch hitting for Bob Wickman, homers! his fifth of the season. Rick Aguilera makes things a little interesting in the bottom half, allowing two baserunners after two outs, but retires the fifth batter of the inning to earn the save.

Montreal returns home to face presumptive division champ New York.

Game 124: New York gets three home runs from its offense and four shutout innings from the bullpen as the Cosmos take the opener 5-1. Bobby Witt, with a nice comeback year, wins his thirteenth game, striking out seven in five innings.

Game 125: Eddie Murray singles with one down in the bottom of the ninth and comes around to score two batters later when Bret Boone doubles, giving the Spectres a 6-5 win over New York and evening the series at a game apiece. Jay Buhner hits his 36th home run and reaches 99 RBI.

Game 126: More ninth inning heroics, this time from Greg Gagne, who blasts a two-run homer after Bret Boone's leadoff single to give the Spectres a 6-4 win. Gagne ends the day with four hits and four RBI; Boone has three hits himself. Scott Sanders gets the win in relief; he's 5-1.

Montreal heads to Wrigley to face the Bootleggers.

Game 127: Jay Buhner starts a five-run seventh with an RBI single, his 100th RBI of the season, and Eddie Taubensee caps it with a three-run homer, the Spectres' fourth longball of the day, as Montreal beats the Bootleggers 9-2 in the opener.

Game 128: Eddie Murray has four of Montreal's 13 hits, but Jay Buhner strands four and Bret Boone strands five; Chicago puts five on the board in the seventh and holds on for a 7-4 win.

Game 129: Not surprisingly, Dave Burba is shelled by the Bootleggers, allowing seven runs before exiting in the fourth. The bullpen fares no better, and Chicago takes the rubber match by a 12-6 score.

Montreal will host San Diego next.

Jay Buhner had more RBI singles than anyone in the history of the game

i am making this up, of course

Game 130: Montreal continues its one-team campaign to get San Diego to the win floor, converting 11 hits into a grand total of two runs (Tony Phillips, Jay Buhner, and Eddie Murray strand five runners each) and dropping the opener 4-2.

Game 131: Eddie Guardado throws 3.1 scoreless innings in relief, and Ricky Gutierrez has three hits in his season debut, as the Spectres bounce back to even the series with a 9-4 win. Jay Buhner and Ken Caminiti hit home runs for Montreal.

Game 132: Despite running into two outs on the bases, the Spectres score four runs in the seventh and rally for a 7-6 win over the Conquistadors. Eddie Guardado gets the win again, improving to 6-4. Jay Buhner drives in three runs.

Montreal will host Los Angeles next.

Game 133: This is something of an unlikely slugfest, given that Montreal's only extra base hit is a double, while the Looters hit three doubles and two homers. But Montreal draws 10 walks (four by Ken Griffey Jr.) to stay in the game. In fact, the game goes to extras tied at nine. The Spectre bullpen breaks first, however (immediately, actually), and the Looters win 11-9 in 10.

Game 134: Randy Johnson strikes out 11 over eight innings, allowing only two hits, one walk, and an unearned run. The Looters win easily, 4-1.

Game 135: Manny Ramirez hits two homers, both off Alex Fernandez, and drives home five runs as the Looters sweep with a 7-5 win. Montreal scores three in the ninth but to no avail.

The Spectres head to Orange County.

i was rooting for the big unit that game

no offense

seriously, you got me thinking about all the times i saw Jay Buhner drive in one run with a single

it was all the time

that guy could hit with RISP

i know there's probably a stat that proves me wrong

but anecdotes is all i have

memories

old fart stuff

that guy you could count on him to hit a single the other way with RISP

caveat

his other specialty was grounding into a double play

talk about taking the steam out