Game 139: The freefall continues as Fred Norman is pounded in Minnesota, dropping a 7-2 decision. The offense shows a little bit of life, collecting 12 hits, but they don't do much with them.

Game 140: Nate Colbert's first-inning error leads to three unearned runs and the Mooseheads hold on for a 4-3 win over Milwaukee.

Game 141: Elias Sosa very nearly extends the Rider losing streak, but recovers in time to preserve a 5-4 lead in the ninth, earning his 30th save. Bill Lee has another good game, allowing only one run in eight innings, improving his record to 12-13.

Milwaukee returns home to face the White Sox (87-54)

Game 142: Milwaukee fails to maintain the momentum from yesterday's win, dropping the opener to Chicago 6-1. Pat Dobson throws a complete game seven-hitter for the White Sox, winning his 21st game.

Game 143: Fred Norman, Dave Laroche, and Tommy John combine on an eight-hit shutout as the Riders win for the second time in three games, 11-0. Norman's record improves to 17-6. Bill Madlock drives in three runs for Milwaukee.

Game 144: Seemingly doomed to dropping another series, Milwaukee rallies for five runs in the eighth, breaking a 3-3 tie on Nate Colbert's 16th home run, and holds on to win 5-3 as Elias Sosa survives two walks in the ninth to get the save.



Milwaukee heads to Detroit next.. another tough series.

Game 145: To make any kind of playoff noise, the Riders are going to need to find a new closer. Elias Sosa suffers his 13th blown save of the year, choking up a 3-2 lead in the ninth as Johnny Bench's two-run single gives Detroit a 4-3 win. Likely candidates include Ramon Hernandez and Rich Gossage. Despite the loss, Milwaukee clinches a third straight PL West title.

Game 146: Ramon Hernandez gets the first crack at the closer job, pitching the ninth inning of a 5-2 game after Milwaukee explodes for three runs in the seventh and another in the ninth. He looks capable, retiring the side on 10 pitches and earning his second save of the season.

Game 147: Fred Norman throws five strong innings, the bullpen tosses four shutout innings, and the Riders win 3-1 as Dave Laroche gets the save opportunity in this one. Perhaps "closer by committee" is the way to go. Bill Madlock's two-run homer is the key blow.

The Riders host Cleveland next, who appears to be headed for a 100-loss season at 55-92.

Game 148: Reggie Jackson crushes a three-run homer in the first, his 40th of the season, and adds two doubles later as the Saltdogs open the series with a 6-5 win over Milwaukee. Ron Reed is the victim, failing to make it through five innings, and falls to 11-6.

Game 149: Bill Lee allows only five hits and no walks through six innings, and gets just enough offense from his teammates to even his record at 13-13 as Milwaukee evens the series with a 2-1 victory. Mike Lum and Thurman Munson produce run-scoring hits in the sixth to account for the Riders' offense. Ramon Hernandez picks up the save.

Game 150: Jon Matlack strikes out 12 batters in eight innings, but as is typical, the run he allows in the eighth is too much for him to earn a victory, as that ties the score at one. Milwaukee fails to score in the bottom of the eighth and Elias Sosa enters to pitch the ninth. Sosa gives up two singles but no runs and we go to the bottom of the ninth tied at one. Richie Hebner, pinch hitting for Nate Colbert, grounds out, bringing up prospect Tristan Pinkham, who scored the Riders' run after doubling in the second inning. He homers to win the game, his eighth blast of the season. It gives Sosa his first win after five losses.

The season will close with 12 divisional games, beginning in Anaheim.

Game 151: Bill Madlock continues his hot hitting with a three-run homer, Nate Colbert adds a longball, and Fred Norman strikes out eight Angels in five shutout innings to improve to 19-6 as the Riders take the opener 7-1.

Game 152: Charlie Spikes and Mike Lum have three hits each as the Riders stake Ron Reed to his 12th win, 5-1 over the Angels. Ramon Hernandez pitches a scoreless ninth for his fourth save.

Game 153: Anaheim puts three across the plate in the first inning off Bill Lee, but Richie Hebner's three-run homer in the fourth ties the score at four. Dave Laroche and Tommy John run into trouble in the seventh, however; Anaheim has another three-run inning and holds on for a 7-5 win.

Game 154: Jon Matlack strikes out 10 batters in seven shutout innings to earn his 20th victory as the Riders close the series with a 6-3 victory. Charlie Spikes homers and drives home three runs, giving him 98 RBI for the season.

Milwaukee will host the Kansas City Blue Sox (21-133) next.

Game 155: Fred Norman puts 11 men on base in four innings, but luckily allows only two runs. Tommy John takes over and throws four scoreless frames to get credit for the 7-2 win. John improves to 9-2 and hits his fourth double of the season.

Game 156: Nate Colbert hits a three-run homer in the first inning, and Ron Reed throws six shutout frames as the Riders take the second game of the series by a 4-0 score. Reed improves to 13-6.

Game 157: Nate Colbert hits a double and a home run, driving home five runs, to lead a 13-3 rout of the Blue Sox. Larry Hisle hits two homers and Charlie Spikes goes yard as well, reaching the 100-RBI mark. Bill Lee pitches into the sixth and gets his 14th win; Tommy John gets his 10th save for three innings of relief.

Game 158: Jon Matlack wins his 21st game as the Riders win by a 13-3 score for the second consecutive day. Nate Colbert hits his 20th home run; Thurman Munson hits his 15th.

Montreal will close the season out at Oakland.

Game 159: Fred Norman's bid for victory number 20 is denied as the Riders fail to capitalize on numerous opportunities before falling, 5-3, to Oakland. Norman drops to 19-7. Milwaukee outhits Oakland 13-11 but can't get the key hit. The Riders will have to win out to achieve a 100-win season.

Game 160: The Riders' apparently have no interest in riding into the playoffs on a hot streak as they are defeated by the Zoo again, 6-2. Oakland's bullpen throws five scoreless innings.

Game 161: Richie Hebner cracks a three-run homer in the sixth, adds an RBI double in the seventh, and the Riders hang on for a 7-5 victory. Bill Lee improves to 15-13; Elias Sosa gets the final out for the save.

Game 162: Milwaukee wins their final regular season game, 8-5, as Bill Madlock and Thurman Munson each hits their 16th home run. Skip Lockwood gets the start and lasts through five innings for the win. Ramon Hernandez gets the save, his sixth, and looks to be the first choice as closer as we enter the playoffs.

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Milwaukee will face the Minnesota Mooseheads in the divisional round of the playoffs. Minnesota (103-59) scored 1020 runs this season, second in the league. The Riders will be depending on their pitching staff, which led the league in ERA by a substantial margin (3.25 with nearest competitor at 3.54)



Game 1

at Minnesota

Jon Matlack (21-11) vs. Jim Rooker (23-7)

Thurman Munson puts Milwaukee on the board first, driving home a run in the second after two consecutive walks. Two more walks, plus a single, loads the bases for Milwaukee with one down in the third. Nate Colbert hits a sacrifice fly to bring one run home, and Mike Lum singles to bring home the other two. Colbert then homers in the fifth to make it a 5-0 game.

The fearsome Minnesota offense arrives in the bottom half, however, collecting five consecutive singles, followed by a sacrifice fly and another single, to chase Matlack. Tommy John gets out of the inning with a tie score, but gives up the lead in the sixth after a two-base error by Larry Hisle.

The score remains 6-5 through the eighth. Charlie Spikes leads off the ninth with a single, but can only sit and watch as Nate Colbert and Mike Lum are retired. Thurman Munson singles, moving Spikes to second, and Gene Michael comes to the plate. He singles! The game is tied!!! Pinch hitter Richie Hebner walks to load the bases, but Frank Taveras is retired to end the inning.

Rich Gossage allows a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth, but gets a double play from the next batter and sends the game to extra innings. Larry Hisle leads off the 10th inning with a home run, atoning for his earlier error. Ramon Hernandez retires the Mooseheads in order in the bottom half and Milwaukee escapes with a 7-6 victory to open the series.



Game 2

at Minnesota

Fred Norman (19-7) vs. Jim Bibby (19-10)

Milwaukee scores three runs in the first, on hits by Charlie Spikes, Richie Hebner, and Bill Madlock. Fred Norman is brilliant, allowing only one run in six innings of work. But the Rider bullpen, exhausted by a grueling opener, is forced to depend on Dave Laroche to get the game to the ninth. He does so, throwing two scoreless innings. The Riders, unfortunately, fail to put any more runs on the board, never even getting a man to third base after the first inning.

Bill Lee, the last rested reliever, is brought in to hold the 3-1 lead in the ninth. He fails. He allows five hits in a six-batter span, bringing home three runs as the Mooseheads win, 4-3. Greg Gross' single is the game-winner.

Milwaukee heads home happy to have split the road games but kicking themselves over an opportunity lost.



Game 3

at Milwaukee

Paul Splittorff (16-7) vs. Ron Reed (13-7)

There's no need to blame the bullpen for this one. Milwaukee is thoroughly outplayed in its first home playoff game, losing 10-1 in a dominating performance by Paul Splittorff. Andre Thornton starts the scoring with a solo home run in the second, and Aurelio Rodriguez adds a solo shot in the third. After that, the Mooseheads really start hitting. They score twice each in the fourth and fifth, add another in the seventh, and then tack on three more in the ninth for good measure.

Milwaukee manages only seven hits, one for extra bases. They score their only run in the sixth on a double play ground ball.

The Riders are now down 2-1 and need a great performance from Jon Matlack to stay alive.



Game 4

at Milwaukee

Mickey Lolich (14-17) vs. Jon Matlack (21-11)

Jon Matlack allows a run in the first, as the Mooseheads hit three consecutive singles with one out. Aurelio Rodriguez adds a two-run double in the fourth. The Riders, meanwhile, can do nothing with Mickey Lolich. Lolich finally tires in the eighth, allowing three straight singles before being relieved by Al Hrabosky, but the Mad Hungarian restores order. A single and an error in the bottom of the ninth give the Riders some hope, but Larry Hisle grounds to first to end the ballgame and the series. Minnesota wins the game, and the series, 3 to 1.

Season over.

1974 in review

PITCHING: Milwaukee led the league in runs allowed for the second straight year, with 610. Not as impressive as last year, when only 562 runs crossed the plate against the Riders, but the team did win the APL ERA title for 1974 at 3.25

Jon Matlack (21-11, 2.32, 1.03, .214/.263/.285) was one of the league's most dominant pitchers, but suffered from inconsistent run support. He struck out 247 batters in 299 innings and walked only 69. Despite leading the rotation in innings pitched by a large margin, he allowed the fewest home runs of the group (11).

Bill Lee (15-13, 3.84, 1.39, .282/.326/.410) pitched 239 innings and allowed 24 homers, most on the staff. He struck out an even 100 batters and walked 59. Both he and Matlack were victimized on a regular basis by the team's defense (Matlack allowed 23 unearned runs, Lee 25).

Ron Reed (13-7, 3.28, 1.03, .214/.259/.335) was nearly as effective as Matlack but without the stamina to go deep in games, pitching only 214 innings in 40 starts. The bullpen cost him a number of wins. He allowed 18 homers and only eight unearned runs.

Fred Norman (19-7, 2.55, 1.18, .220/.293/.314) struck out 170 in 205 innings and allowed only 12 home runs. Norman was spectacular through the first half but tailed off a bit after the All Star break.

Tommy John (9-2, 10/10, 3.03, 1.19, .249/.291/.308) spent the year in the bullpen to try to preserve an obviously troublesome elbow. He was nothing short of brilliant. He allowed only one home run in 151 innings. The team would have been in bad shape without him.

Elias Sosa (1-5, 32/45, 4.18, 1.41, .233/.325/.278) was primarily responsible for the team's underperformance of the Pythagorean formula, blowing over 1/4 of his save opportunities. Lack of control was his biggest problem as he walked 34 batters in 65 innings. He allowed only one home run but too often allowed strings of baserunners that eliminated leads anyway.

Ramon Hernandez (3-2, 6/6, 2.69. 1.05, .213/.260/.292) took over his old closer's job in the last few weeks of the season but didn't get many opportunities in the playoffs. Battling a sore shoulder all season, he pitched 77 innings but generally needed a day or two off after each appearance, which cost him the regular closer's job early in the season.

Rich Gossage (7-7, 2/5, 3.48, 1.36, .244/.324/.331) was up and down, but generally more effective than Dave Laroche or Darold Knowles. He had some control issues as well, walking 44 batters in 98 innings while striking out 77.

Dave Laroche (7-4, 2/5, 5.58, 1.91), Darold Knowles (0-5, 1/1, 6.00, 1.67), and Skip Lockwood (4-0, 5.66, 1.55) were generally disappointing and relegated to mopup duty for most of the second half.