Game 142: Fred Norman cannot handle the Saltdogs, and AAA prospect Brian Beast handcuffs the Riders as Milwaukee drops the opener by an 8-3 score. Milwaukee is now three games back of Chicago with only 20 games .. looks like a road-heavy first round for the Riders.

Game 143: Bill Lee gets his second RBI of the season, capping a five-run fifth, and gets his 19th win, 6-4 over Cleveland. Ramon Hernandez throws an uneventful ninth and earns his 42nd save.

Game 144: Skip Lockwood's latest starting assignment starts well but ends poorly. Allowing only two runs through six innings, Lockwood starts the seventh but allows consecutive singles to lead off the inning. Elias Sosa enters and promptly allows the next four batters to reach base. In the end, Cleveland has a very unexpected series victory with a 8-3 win in the finale.

Milwaukee heads west to visit Minnesota.

PLAYOFFS

DIVISION SERIES

Game 1: At Chicago

The Riders get off to a good start, getting an RBI double from Richie Hebner and an RBI single from Bill Robinson to take a 2-0 lead in the top of the first off Reggie Cleveland. The White Sox don't waste much time striking back, however, getting a two-run homer from Bill Melton in the bottom half off Bill Lee.

Both pitchers settle down after that, with hardly even a baserunner again through the next six innings. Chicago leaves a single runner in the second and again in the third while Milwaukee strands a man in the third and then leaves runners at the corners in the fifth.

Mark Belanger singles to lead off the eighth, then scores on Duke Sims' double. That's it for Lee. Elias Sosa walks Tony Muser and then allows a single to Rick Monday, but Sims is thrown out by Mike Lum while trying to score. Perhaps relaxing after that reprieve, Sosa grooves one to Melton, who singles Muser home.

Doug Bird enters to pitch the ninth for Chicago and retires all three batters he sees, giving the White Sox a 4-2 win and a 1-0 lead in the series.

Game 2: At Chicago

Milwaukee strikes in the top of the first once again, getting an RBI double from Mike Lum to score Ted Sizemore. Tommy John survives a bases-loaded situation in the second, getting a double play groundout off Mark Belanger, but is touched for the tying run in the third as Bill Melton strikes again, grounding a shot to right field for an RBI.

Melton, however, plays a part in giving the Riders the lead back in the next inning, as he boots a routine grounder with a man on first. When Nate Colbert walks, it loads the bases with none out for Thurman Munson, who slaps a single the opposite way to bring home two runs.

John gives way to Darold Knowles after five; Knowles tosses two scoreless frames. Dave LaRoche retires the Sox in order in the eighth, and the first two Rider batters in the ninth hit singles. With one down and men at the corners, Larry Biittner pinch hits for LaRoche and delivers in a big way, lining one into the corner for a two-run triple.

Up 5-1, Skip Lockwood is brought in to pitch the ninth. Bad idea. With two down and one on, he allows a run-scoring double to Duke Sims. Ramon Hernandez gets the call and gives up another double, this one to Tony Muser. Hernandez finally gets Rick Monday to ground out for the final out, evening the series at a game apiece.

Game 3: At Milwaukee

For the third straight game, the visiting team scores in the first inning. Bill Melton singles home Rick Monday and Jon Matlack finds himself down 1-0. The Riders strike right back, however. Larry Hisle walks in the bottom half and scores on Richie Hebner's two-run blast. Bill Robinson follows with a double and then scores on Nate Colbert's opposite field hit.

Two walks and a Mike Lum single make it 4-1 in the second inning, but the White Sox start to come back in the fourth, as Matty Alou doubles home Monday in that inning and the White Sox collect three hits and a walk with two down in the fifth to make the score 5-4. Rick Monday scores for the third time after drawing a walk. Matlack finally retires Bill Sharp with the bases loaded for the third out.

Milwaukee loads the bases themselves in that frame, but cannot get a run home. Matlack pitches a 1-2-3 sixth inning and is lifted for a pinch hitter to lead off the bottom half. Larry Biittner cannot duplicate his Game 2 magic, grounding out. Ted Sizemore singles, and Larry Hisle gives Milwaukee the lead back with an opposite field home run off Chicago starter Pat Dobson.

Elias Sosa throws two scoreless innings, even striking out Monday, and Dave LaRoche is called on to pitch the ninth. He retires pinch hitter Tony Muser but then walks Ellie Rodriguez. Tom Hutton flies out, bringing Monday to the plate. He singles to center, putting runners on the corners for Melton. Melton hits one to short and it's over. Milwaukee wins, 6-5, and holds a 2-1 lead in the series.

Game 4: At Milwaukee

For the first time in the series, the home starting pitcher throws a scoreless first inning. Tom Seaver makes his long-awaited debut in the series and, perhaps rusty, allows three straight hits to the Riders before striking out three straight batters. Milwaukee has an early 1-0 lead. Rider starter Bill Lee then reaches base on a fielder's choice in the second inning, advances to second on a walk, and scores the second run of the game on Larry Hisle's single.

Thurman Munson singles home another Milwaukee run in the fifth, and the Riders lead 3-0. Bill Robinson's seventh-inning error puts runners at the corners but Lee escapes with no runs scoring. Mike Lum then homers to lead off the bottom half to make it 4-0.

Darold Knowles replaces Lee in the eighth and allows a leadoff walk but retires the next three batters. Milwaukee loads the bases in the eighth but Bill Robinson strikes out to end the threat.

After walking a batter in the ninth, Knowles exits for Dave LaRoche, who allows a hit and then hits the next batter to load the bases. Ramon Hernandez enters, giving up a two-run double to Tom Hutton and a run-scoring ground ball to Rick Monday. With the tie run at third and Bill Melton at the plate, Hernandez induces a short fly to field and the Riders win, 4-3!

Milwaukee has its first playoff series win in franchise history and will face the New York Mammoths in the PLCS.

PATRIOT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Milwaukee Riders (113-49) vs. New York Mammoths (126-36)

GAME 1: At New York

New York, with the most fearsome offense the APL has seen, scores in the first on three consecutive two-out singles off Bill Lee. Nate Colbert homers in the second to tie it and Mike Lum's single in the third gives the Riders a lead (after a wild pitch from Vida Blue advances the runner). Colbert comes to the plate with two down and the bases loaded, but flies out to end the threat.

Four of the first five Mammoth batters single in the bottom half, giving New York the lead back at 3-2. George Mitterwald crushes a home run in the fourth to make it 4-2. After Lee strands three Mammoths in the bottom of the fifth, Nate Colbert hits his second homer of the game in the sixth, making it 4-3.

Then comes the fateful bottom half. Ron Hunt leads off with a double, moves to third on a ground out, and beats Hisle's throw home to score on a sac fly. Two down, none on, Riders trail 5-3. Darrell Evans walks, Bob Bailey doubles, Mammoths up 6-3. Darold Knowles relieves Lee. Orlando Cepeda doubles. 7-3.

It's too much to overcome. Richie Hebner's two-run homer in the eighth makes it 7-5 and the Riders load the bases again that inning, but Ted Sizemore flies out to end the threat. Frank Tanana retires all three Riders he faces in the ninth, striking out two, and the Mammoths take Game 1.

GAME 2: At New York

If the opener was a story of missed opportunities for the Riders, Game 2 was a story of almost no opportunity. Dock Ellis was brilliant for the Mammoths, limiting the Riders to only two hits in his eight innings of work.

New York struck first, scoring in the second when Craig Robinson couldn't handle Ellis' grounder. Bob Bailey, who scored that run, scored again in the sixth ahead of Darrell Evans on Orlando Cepeda's double. Meanwhile, Milwaukee advanced a man to second only once, in the third inning, and he was stranded.

Thurman Munson singled to lead off the eighth and made it to second, but no further. Pinch hitter Bill Madlock and Ted Sizemore were retired by Ellis. Darrell Evans then homered in the bottom half to make it 4-0.

Larry Hisle and Mike Lum led off the ninth with singles, and Frank Tanana's wild pitch brought home Milwaukee's first run. Cy Acosta entered and retired the first two batters he faced before walking Nate Colbert and Thurman Munson. Craig Robinson at the plate, bases loaded, two down, trailing 4-1. He grounds feebly back to Acosta and the Mammoths have a 2-0 series lead.

GAME 3: At Milwaukee

A slugfest at County Stadium! Bill Robinson's groundball drives in the first run in the bottom of the first. Ron Hunt ties it in the second with an RBI single. Ted Sizemore hits a two-run triple in the bottom half and then scores on Larry Hisle's fly ball. 4-1, Milwaukee.

Bob Bailey ties it in the third with a three-run homer, but Bill Robinson homers in the bottom half to put Milwaukee back in the lead.

Jon Matlack falls apart in the fourth, walking four batters (including one with the bases loaded) and allowing two singles to put New York back on top, 7-5. Fred Norman relieves and allows two more hits, making it 9-5.

Richie Hebner's three-run homer in the bottom half narrows the lead to one, and Norman produces the tying run an inning later with a ground ball.

Norman tires in the sixth, allowing three singles to give New York the lead. Darold Knowles relieves, walks a man, then allows a three-run double to Reggie Smith. New York takes a 13-9 lead. Milwaukee scores once in the seventh and once more in the ninth, but comes no closer, losing 13-11. For the second straight game, the Riders load the bases in the ninth but fail.

Milwaukee is on the brink of elimination, down three games to none.

GAME 4: At Milwaukee

Bill Lee is not quite ready for this one; the first three Mammoth batters collect hits, and a sac fly from the fourth makes it 2-0. Ken Singleton homers to lead off the third, making it 3-1. Milwaukee scratches out a run in the bottom half off Mammoth starter Dock Ellis, getting the deficit back to two runs.

George Mitterwald doubles in the top of the fourth and later scores on a double by Singleton, making it 4-1. Ellis is basically untouchable through the seventh, and neither team scores again until the eighth.

Elias Sosa comes in to pitch the eighth. Things go poorly. Two one-out hits are followed by consecutive walks, setting the stage for a big inning. New York scores four times, Milwaukee gets only one baserunner over the final two innings, and the Riders are swept out of the LCS, 8-1 in Game 4.