Game 29: Bob Henley hits his first home run of the season and Willie Blair earns his first win of the season as the Riders build a 7-0 lead and hold on through a dreadful appearance by Omar Daal for a 10-9 win over Cleveland.

Game 30: Montreal starts sluggishly but turns things around in the later innings, scoring in five straight frames to forge a 6-2 win over the Classics. Carlos Delgado homers for the second straight game, giving him four on the year.

Game 31: Baltimore and Montreal combine to use 13 pitches in a seesaw affair that isn't settled until the ninth. Joe Randa's RBI single in the top of that frame gives the Aureoles a 7-6 lead, but Edgardo Alfonzo leads off the bottom half with a solo home run to tie it. Jeff Brantley enters for Baltimore and gives up a single to Carlos Delgado. Ken Griffey Jr. follows with a home run, giving the Spectres a 9-7 win. Robb Nen, who pitched the ninth, gets the win.

Game 32: Chuck Finley strikes out nine in seven one-run innings and the Spectres hit three homers to get by Baltimore 8-1. Brady Anderson's three-run shot highlights a five-run fourth.

Montreal heads to the West Coast for their first meeting of the season with the hated San Francisco 69ers.

Game 33: Dave Burba pitches a gem, walking none and striking out eight in seven innings; Montreal gets solo home runs from Carlos Delgado and Willie Greene and steals the opener from the Niners, 3-1.

Game 34: Montreal hits three more solo home runs (Ken Griffey Jr., Bret Boone, and Willie Greene) and Willie Blair pitches seven one-hit innings as the Spectres beat the Niners 3-2. Robb Nen allows two unearned runs in the ninth as Brady Anderson commits his first error of the season, but strikes out Reggie Jefferson with runners on the corners to end it.

Game 35: Well, the bottom of the rotation really came through in San Fran. Bret Saberhagen allows only an unearned run in seven innings, Bob Henley drives in two, and Tony Phillips homers as the Spectres finish the series with a 3-1 win. Robb Nen pitches the ninth for his 14th save.

More interleague play up next as we face Seattle and Oakland.

Game 36: Visiting Seattle gets a three-run homer from Jeromy Burnitz, but the Spectres rally for two runs in the seventh off Emerald starter Pete Harnisch and hold on for a 4-3 win as Eddie Guardado and Robb Nen each pitch a scoreless inning.

Game 37: Willie Green drives in three runs, hitting a two-run homer early and an RBI single late, as the Spectres win at Seattle 5-4. Chuck Finley improves to 4-0 with eight innings of work while Robb Nen chalks up another save.

Game 38: Dave Burba strikes out nine in five innings, and Montreal gets big hits from Ken Caminiti (pinch hit three-run homer) and Willie Greene (two-run homer in the second) to hold off the Amoebas 9-7. Burba improves to 5-2.

Game 39: Ken Caminiti's pinch hit homer in the top of the ninth breaks a 3-3 tie, and Robb Nen pitches a perfect bottom half to earn the save as Montreal beats Oakland 4-3.

The Spectres will host St. Louis next as they return to NL competition.

Game 40: Ken Griffey Jr. takes a golden sombrero as Tom Glavine tosses seven shutout innings to end Montreal's 12-game winning streak; St. Louis beats Bret Saberhagen, 5-0.

Game 41: Willie Greene commits a key error in the eighth inning, leading to a 3-run Blue Storm rally that ties the score. The Spectre bullpen settles things down in extra innings and Montreal eventually wins it in the 11th on Bret Boone's RBI single, scoring Ken Griffey Jr.

Game 42: Freddy Garcia hits his first home of the season and Bret Boone adds two; Montreal rallies for four in the sixth to take a 6-5 lead and the Spectre bullpen makes it stand up, pitching three scoreless inninngs. Robb Nen gets his 19th save.

Montreal heads to Houston to take on the Lone Stars.

Game 43: Ken Griffey Jr. hits his 12th home run and the Spectre bullpen throws three scoreless innings as Montreal defeats Houston 7-3 in the series opener. Montreal adds five doubles and one triple to their hit total. Dave Burba improves to 6-2.

Game 44: Willie Blair pitches seven scoreless innings and Brady Anderson scores three times as the Spectres get by the Lone Stars 4-1.

Game 45: Roberto Petagine is called up from the minors to start in field and homers in his second at bat. Unfortunately, that's the only run the Spectres manage and they lose 2-1 in 11 innings when Edgar Martinez and Harold Baines hit consecutive doubles off Rick Aguilera.

The Spectres return home to face Milwaukee.

Game 46: Roberto Petagine homers for the second straight game and Bret Boone hits two doubles to drive in three runs as the Spectres beat Milwaukee 5-1 behind Scott Erickson.

Game 47: Milwaukee is quiet through six but then explodes for six runs in the seventh off a tiring Chuck Finley and Eddie Guardado. A stunned Spectre team cannot respond and they drop an 8-7 decision to the Krauts.

Game 48: Monteal bounces back to take the series, getting seven strong innings from Dave Burba along with homers from Carlos Delgado and Bret Boone in a 6-1 win.

Interleague matchups with Chicago and Washington are next on the schedule.

Game 49: Greg Colbrunn hits three doubles and the White Sox get home runs from Mark Lawton and BJ Surhoff as they defeat the Spectres 5-2 behind Orlando Hernandez.

Game 50: Ricky Gutierrez hits a two-run double in the fourth, snapping a 2-2 tie, and the Spectres make it hold up, earning a split with the White Sox in a 4-3 win. Robb Nen pitches the ninth for his 23rd save.

Game 51: Montreal cannot solve Andy Pettite, who tosses eight scoreless innings as the Senators build a 4-0 lead. The Spectres finally awake in the ninth, scoring twice off the Washington bullpen, but Roberto Petagine is thrown out at home to end the inning.

Game 52: Washington's Jason Schmidt improves to 8-2, striking out nine in seven innings. Ken Griffey Jr. has three hits but the rest of the lineup can only match that and the Senators hand the Spectres a 4-1 loss in the first game of a nearly unprecedented 10-game homestand.

San Diego will be in town next for three games before the second round of divisional play begins.

Game 53: Montreal scores in each of the first four innings to take a 5-2 lead, but the Conquistadors light up Dave Burba in the fifth and sixth, putting six more runs on the board. The San Diego bullpen, led by Giuseppe Heidenreich, shuts down the Spectres the rest of the way and SD wins 9-5.

Game 54: Bob Wickman's eighth inning meltdown turns a 3-1 lead into a 4-3 deficit, but Ricky Gutierrez ties it back up with a homer in the bottom half. San Diego takes the lead again in the ninth on Alex Rodriguez' homer but Willie Greene reties things with an RBI double. Mike Remlinger pitches a scoreless 10th; Tony Phillips leads off for Montreal with a double. Gutierrez comes through again, hitting another double, to win the game 6-5 for the Spectres.

Game 55: Bret Saberhagen pitches seven shutout innings and the Spectre draw eight walks as they muster just enough offense to win a 3-1 decision over San Diego.

Pittsburgh will be in town next as the second round of divisional play arrives.

Game 56: Robb Nen suffers a rare blown save, allowing four walks and two runs in the ninth to put the Melons up 5-4, but Montreal ties it back up in the bottom half with no outs on a bases-loaded walk to Bret Boone. Eddie Taubensee follows with a double play grounder, but pinch hitter Willie Greene saves the day with an RBI single to win it, 6-5.

Game 57: Montreal gets home runs from Edgardo Alfonzo and Ken Griffey Jr. as they beat Pittsburgh 7-4. Robb Nen has to save the game when the Melons load the bases in the ninth with none out. Nen allows one run but coaxes a game-ending double play for his 25th save.

Game 58: Montreal scores early and often; Ken Griffey Jr. hits two-run homers in both the second and third innings as the Spectres build a 9-0 lead, and though the bats do nothing of note from that point the pitching is good enough to claim a 9-5 win over the Melons.

The Cosmos will be in town next as the homestand concludes.

Game 59: Both teams score four in the third, Montreal getting theirs on Ken Griffey Jr.'s grand slam, and the game stays close through eight. In the top of the ninth, however, two different Spectre relievers combine to walk four straight Cosmo batters. Rey Sanchez later hits a bases-clearing triple, and the Cosmos run away with an 11-6 win.

Game 60: Robb Nen suffers his first loss of the year, surrendering a two-run homer to Mark McGwire in the ninth to give the Cosmos a 6-5 win. Montreal scored all of their runs in the first two innings but could not generate anything afterwards.

Game 61: Montreal suffers another bullpen meltdown as the Cosmos score twice in the seventh and twice in the eighth to erase a 6-2 deficit. Neither team scores in the ninth and the game goes to extras. Rey Sanchez doubles home a run off Rick Aguilera in the 10th. Montreal loads the bases in the bottom half off Antonio Alfonseca. Brady Anderson's shallow fly out does not advance any runners, leaving one chance. Edgardo Alfonzo grounds one up the middle for a single; Willie Greene races around third, heading for home.. he beats the throw!!!!! SPECTRES WIN!!!!! 8-7.

After a thrilling end to the homestand, Montreal heads to Philly to face the second place Keystones on their turf.

Game 62: With the Spectres already trailing 6-5, Rick Aguilera gives up two two-run homers in a three-batter span and the Keystones are on their way to a 10-8 win to open the series.

Game 63: Dave Burba tosses seven shutout frames and the Spectres hit five home runs as they even the series with a 13-0 win. Burba improves to 9-3.

Game 64: Bret Boone doubles and homers, driving in four runs, and Ken Griffey Jr. hits his 22nd home run as the Spectres defeat Philadelphia 6-2 in the third game to claim the series. Bret Saberhagen improves to 7-2.

Montreal wins six of nine in this round of divisional competition and will face the New York Yankees in a quick interleague set before returning to NL competition.

Go Sphinctres!

Game 65: Rookie OF Geoff Jenkins hits his first home run of the season, a three-run shot that caps a five-run rally in the eighth, and the Spectres hold on from there for a 9-7 victory. Robb Nen allows a run in the ninth but picks up his 26th save.

Game 66: Yankee starter Ken Cloude walks the first two Spectre batters and Ken Griffey Jr. makes him pay. Griffey Jr. smashes his 23rd homer of the season and the Spectres are on their way to a 5-4 win over New York. Scott Erickson pitches into the seventh and improves to 5-4 while Robb Nen earns a save for the second straight game, his 27th of the season.

The Spectres now head to Chicago's Wrigley Field to face the Bootleggers, a frequent tormentor in the past.

Game 67: Chicago's Rick Helling continues his stellar season, limiting the Spectres to two runs in six innings, while the Bootlegger hitters batter Chuck Finley in a 7-2 Bootlegger victory. Helling improves to 8-1 on the season.

Game 68: Montreal gets consecutive 1-2-3, two strikeout innings from Kelvim Escobar and Robb Nen to make a late rally hold up for a 6-5 win at Wrigley. Eddie Taubensee's second double of the game drives home the game-winner in the ninth.

Game 69: Montreal scores three in the first and another solid outing by the bullpen helps the Spectres take the series with a 5-3 win in the finale. Bret Saberhagen goes six for the win, improving to 8-2.

The Spectres return home to host the Looters.

Game 70: LA's Randy Johnson strikes out 15 Spectres in seven innings of work and drives in his first run of the year; the Sunsets shut out Montreal 4-0 in the series opener. Montreal gets only four hits and strikes out 18 times in all.

Game 71: Scott Erickson scatters eight hits over seven innings and gets his sixth win as the Spectres hold on for a 3-2 win over LA. Ken Griffey Jr. homers and hits a sacrifice fly to pace what passes for Montreal's offense.

Game 72: Chuck Finley is awful, and by the time he departs in the seventh, the Spectres trail 8-0. Montreal rallies back, though, exploding for seven runs in the bottom of that frame. Bret Boone leads off the inning with a solo homer and later hits a two-run double. Geoff Jenkins also drives in three runs, hitting his second homer of the season. Jenkins then doubles and scores in the eighth, tying the score. Bob Wickman allows two runners in the ninth but escapes with no runs scoring. Mike Fetters pitches the ninth for LA. Not for long. Ken Griffey Jr. leads off the inning with a game-winning homer.

Montreal heads to Cicinnati to face the Stingers.