HOW DID YOU NOT BEAT MY TEAM!?!??! i'm ******, we are supposed to suck this year

Game 25: Larry Hisle hits a two-run double early and Jon Matlack keeps the Mooseheads in check through eight; Milwaukee takes the opener by a 4-2 score with Rich Gossage pitching the ninth for his fourth save.

Game 26: Thurman Munson hits his first home run and Tommy John goes seven as the Riders get back to .500 with a 6-1 win over Minnesota. Mike Ivie contributes three hits, including his third home run of the season.

Game 27: The 7-8-9 hitters in the Milwaukee lineup have three hits each (Larry Hisle collecting two doubles and a home run) as Lary Sorensen gets some much needed run support in a 14-7 win over the Mooseheads. Sorensen improves to 3-4; Larry Biittner hits his first home run of the season for the Riders.

Game 28: Aurelio Rodriguez doubles, homers, and drives in four runs for Minnesota, all off Bill Lee, as the Riders hand Paul Splittorff his first win of the season in a 7-6 loss.

Milwaukee finishes the first round of divisional play with a 14-14 record, three games out of first.

The next round of interleague play brings division leaders Pittsburgh (Central) and Baltimore (East).

Game 29: Jon Matlack gets rocked and the Riders waste most of their 10 hits, falling 9-2 to Pittsburgh.

Game 30: Nathan Gerard and Edwin Kummer both hit home runs to back Tommy John as the Riders split with the Dutchmen, winning at County Stadium 7-3.

Game 31: Ken Forsch dominates the Rider batters, who collect only four hits and two walks in a 7-0 shutout loss to Baltimore. Lary Sorensen takes a beating and falls to 3-5.

Game 32: Prospect Mark Daugherty gets the start against Baltimore after several effective relief appearances, but the success does not quite translate; he allows 10 hits in 4.2 innings and five runs; Milwaukee does nothing at the plate and loses 10-2, falling to 15-17, five games behind Anaheim.

The Riders head to Cincinnati looking for a spark.

Game 33: Milwaukee gets a two-run triple from Frank Taveras in th seventh and takes a 6-4 lead, but seldom used closer Rich Gossage is a bit rusty and blows the game, allowing one in the eighth and two more in the ninth as the Steamboats rally for a 7-6 win.

Game 34: Tommy John pitches six shutout innings and Rich Gossage is back in form today as the Riders shut out the Steamboats 2-0.

Game 35: Larry Hisle homers and drive in four; Milwaukee collects 15 hits in a 12-2 pasting of the Steamboats.

More interleague play up next with series against Detroit and Kansas City.

Game 36: Milwaukee breaks out the bats, hitting three home runs among 16 hits, and prospect Mark Daugherty puts together another respectable start, as the Riders win at Detroit, 13-4. Richie Hebner clubs a grand slam in the ninth.

Game 37: Larry Hisle hits a two-run homer to spark a four-run first, and the Riders hang on from there, beating visiting Detroit 6-3. Rich Gossage gets the save, his seventh of the season.

Game 38: Tommy John pitches six shutout innings and contributes one of the Riders' 16 hits as Milwaukee wins at KC, 8-1. Bill Madlock and Larry Biittner hit home runs for Milwaukee.

Game 39: Lary Gura scatters nine hits over seven-plus innings and the Blues get all of their 13 hits off Rider starter Lary Sorensen as they earn a split, winning at County Stadium, 7-2.

Milwaukee hosts Central leading Cleveland (26-13) next before departing on a seven-game road trip,

Game 40: In what qualifies as a minor miracle, the Riders win a game started by Bill Lee, against a winning team no less. Lee allows only a solo home run in 4.2 innings of work and the Riders rally for two in the seventh to take a 3-2 win over the Saltdogs. Rich Gossage pitches the ninth, earning his eighth save.

Game 41: Milwaukee puts together an ugly ninth-inning rally consisting primarily of walks and errors to come back and steal a 3-2 win from the Saltdogs. Larry Hisle singles home Jerry Mumphrey with the winner; Jon Matlack goes the distance for Milwaukee.

Game 42: Cleveland explodes out of the blocks, scoring eight runs in the first two innings, and crush the Riders 12-0 to avoid a sweep. Milwaukee commits three errors and allows seven unearned runs. Dennis Eckersley pitches a complete-game shutout for the Saltdogs.

The road trip starts at Wrigley against the Goats (24-18).

Game 43: Larry Hisle, Larry Biittner, and Bill Madlock, Milwaukee's 4-5-6 hitters, are 0-13 and strand 18 runners between them. Not surprisingly, the Goats win the opener, 7-5.

Game 44: The Riders fall back to .500 as Bill Lee takes another shelling, allowing eight runs to the Goats in a 9-3 loss. After the game, the Riders announce that Lee has been traded away to Montreal, along with Milwaukee's second round pick in the 1979 player draft, for starting pitcher John Montefusco, who will take Lee's spot in the rotation. Milwaukee won only one game started by Lee and hopes to get back in the race with Montefusco taking a regular turn.

Game 45: Milwaukee drops under .500 as Mike Caldwell pitches a complete game shutout, leading the Goats to a 2-0 win. Jon Matlack pitches well but cannot match Caldwell, who is now 9-3.

The Riders head to New York to face the Mammoths (24-21).

Game 46: The slide continues as a 17-hit outburst is not enough to deliver a victory over the Mammoths, who get 15 hits of their own in a 10-6 win. Skip Lockwood allows two home runs in 1.1 innings and takes the loss. Mike Ivie hits two solo home runs for the Riders.

Game 47: John Montefusco's first start in a Milwaukee uniform looks a lot like Bill Lee's previous efforts; he allows three home runs and nine runs and the Riders are crushed, 12-6.

Game 48: Milwaukee finally halts the skid, as Larry Hisle hits two home runs to pace a 14-hit attack; the Riders beat the Mammoths 12-4 behind Lary Sorensen. The longballs give Hisle 10 home runs for the season; another middle-of-the-order guy, Hal McRae, also homers... only his second of the season.

Milwaukee enters interleague matchups with Houston and San Francisco with a 23-25 record, six games out of the division lead.

Game 49: Gaylord Perry baffles the Riders with his spitball and Houston takes a 6-1 victory over Milwaukee. The Riders get only three hits for the day.

Game 50: Richie Hebner erases a 3-0 deficit with a sixth-inning grand slam, but Houston's Jeff Burroughs answers with a solo homer in the seventh to tie the score. The score remains knotted at four until the 11th when Hal McRae comes through with an RBI single to drive home Larry Hisle, who had walked as a pinch hitter to lead off the inning.

Game 51: San Francisco's Andy Replogle gets his first win of the year, easily outpitching the apparently overmatched John Montefusco, who surrenders 13 hits in his second outing for the Riders. Final score is 8-4.

Game 52: Larry Biittner snaps a 2-2 tie in the ninth inning with a two-run triple and later scores himself as the Riders split with Frisco, winning 5-2 at Candlestick.

The Riders head to Washington to face the Commandos.

Game 53: Thurman Munson's bases-loaded double caps a five-run eighth, and the Riders survive a blown save by Rich Gossage to triumph in 11 innings, 8-5, to open the series at RFK. Frank Taveras drives home the winner; Dave LaRoche gets the win in relief of Gossage, who now has three blown saves this season.

Game 54: Tommy John pitches seven 4-hit innings and Rich Gossage finishes off with two scoreless as the Riders win their second straight, 3-1.

Game 55: John Montefusco finally finds his curveball in his third start for the Riders and beats the Commandos 6-2. Len Randle has two hits and two runs while Bob Randall reaches base four times.

The second round of divisional play arrives; Milwaukee heads to Anaheim to kick things off.

Game 56: Milwaukee gets three RBI singles in the fourth and survives a shaky outing from Rich Gossage to take the opener from Anaheim, 6-5. Gossage allows two ninth-inning runs but strikes out Sixto Lezcano to end it and earn his 11th save.

Game 57: Anaheim evens the series with a 5-2 win behind Rich Gale, who allows five hits and seven walks in six innings but limits the damage to two runs scored for the Riders. Larry Biittner strands five runners; Jerry Mumphrey and Frank Taveras strand four each.

Game 58: Hal McRae homers and the Rider bullpen throws three scoreless innings to protect the lead for Tommy John as the Riders manage to win the series from Anaheim with a 3-1 win in the series finale.

The Riders return home to face LA next.

Game 59: The ugly John Montefusco returns, allowing seven runs in the first two innings, and the Hilltoppers rout the Riders 10-1 to open the series.

Game 60: Rich Gossage blows a 5-3 lead in the top of the ninth but the Riders recover to win, 6-5; Frank Taveras singles to lead off the bottom half, steals second, and scores just ahead of the throw on Len Randle's single.

Game 61: LA's Rollie Fingers pitches three scoreless innings and Larry Hisle commits a horrible error in the 11th, allowing the Hilltoppers to take the series with a 4-3 win over Milwaukee.

The Riders drop into a second place tie with LA and head to Minnesota hoping LA continues to play well against first place Anaheim.

Game 62: Len Randle doubles and triples, and the Rider bullpen throws four scoreless innings, as the Riders beat Minnesota 8-4. Tommy John improves to 9-3; Rich Gossage gets out of a two on, none out situation in the ninth to earn a save.

Game 63: Minnesota collects 14 hits but only three runs; Milwaukee's Bill Madlock matches that toal himself, reaching base four times with a homer, triple, and two walks. Milwaukee ekes out one other run and holds on to beat the Mooseheads 4-3.

Game 64: Larry Hisle hits a two-run homer and two RBI singles; Rich Gossage helps extinguish a ninth-inning fire and the Riders win another close one from Minnesota, 7-6.

A quick interleague set with Seattle is next on the schedule.

Game 65: An anticipated pitchers' duel between Jon Matlack and Jim Palmer fails to materialize as the Emeralds destroy Matlack, routing the Riders 13-2. Palmer keeps up his end of the deal with a complete game.

Game 66: Playing at Seattle, Milwaukee keeps the game a bit closer but commits three errors and allows three unearned runs in a 4-3 loss.

The Riders come home to face Montreal.

Game 67: Down 6-1 after seven, Milwaukee stages an improbably rally to win 7-6, scoring four off Tug McGraw in the ninth.

Game 68: Montreal has two big innings against Lary Sorensen and the Riders' ninth-inning rally falls just short as the Lynchers even the series with an 8-7 win. Jerry Mumphrey grounds out to end the game with men on second and third, the Riders pulling wtihin a run on a passed ball.

Game 69: Jon Matlack takes another beating, allowing 14 hits, and the Lynchers score three off Ron Reed in the eighth to take the series with an 8-6 victory.

Now seven games back, the Riders head to Boston to take on East leading Red Legs.