Game 67: Montreal has another ninth inning explosion to win a road game, scoring seven in the ninth to beat Milwaukee 11-6. Geoff Jenkins and Ricky Gutierrez each hit two-run homers in the fateful frame. The Spectre bullpen throws four scoreless innings to make the comeback possible; Bob Wickman gets the win.

Game 68: Dave Burba is effective if not brilliant and the Spectre bullpen contributes 2.2 scoreless innings to beat the Krauts, 4-2. Ricky Gutierrez has two hits and raises his average above .200!

Game 69: There's no dramatic rally in this one as the Spectres drop the finale at Milwaukee, 8-3. Kelvim Escobar walks eight batters in only four innings of work and the Montreal hitters collect only three hits.

The Spectres return home to face the LA Looters, who are tied for the West division lead at 38-31.

Game 70: Ricky Gutierrez hits a three-run homer in the eighth to expand a 3-2 Montreal lead, and the Spectres need every last one of those insurance runs as the bullpen tries to give the game away. Robb Nen is finally called on to get the last two outs and save a 6-5 victory.

Game 71: Omar Daal allows the first four batters to get hits, the final one a three-run homer that makes the score 4-0. Things don't get much better after that. The bullpen covers the remaining nine innings with only two more runs scored but the Spectres can only match that at the plate and lose 6-2.

Game 72: Geoff Jenkins has another big game, homering and driving in five runs, as the Spectres take the rubber match 7-5. Willie Blair exits in the fourth but the bullpen holds on for the win, Robb Nen collecting his 22nd save.

The Spectres head to Cincinnati to face the Stingers.

Game 73: Montreal survives a seven-run inning by the Stingers, hitting four home runs to squeak by, 11-10 in the series opener. Ken Griffey Jr. hits two homers and drives in five to reclaim the team RBI lead from Geoff Jenkins (now 71 to 69). Robb Nen allows a run in the ninth but it's unearned, and Nen gets his 23rd save.

Game 74: Cincy's Tyler Houston has possibly the best single game performance in Centennial League history, clubbing FIVE home runs off the Spectre pitchers, including a game-tying shot off Robb Nen in the ninth, giving Nen his first blown save of the season. Montreal gets the last laugh though, scoring twice in the 11th to win 10-8. Houston leads off the bottom of the 11th against Eddie Guardado and flies out, ending the day 5-6 with six RBI.

Game 75: The Stingers keep bashing the ball around the ballpark; even Spectre ace Chuck Finley cannot slow them down. The Stingers salvage the series finale 10-8, dropping Finley's record to 8-3.

Montreal will host Houston next; the surging Seaphils have won seven straight and are lurking four back of the Spectres.

Game 76: Houston's Kris Benson wins his 10th game of the season, throwing 7.2 3-hit innings at the Spectres, and errors by Edgardo Alfonzo and Melvin Mora lead to three unearned Houston runs in a 4-0 decision.

Game 77: Montreal uses nearly the entire bullpen but bounces back to beat the Lone Stars 8-6, getting a pinch hit two-run homer from Bret Boone to put them in front in the seventh inning. Robb Nen walks the leadoff man in the ninth but retires the next three batters for his 24th save.

Game 78: Rick Reed shuts out the Spectres for seven innings, and while the club puts some runs on the board against the Houston pen, it's not enough. Houston wins, 4-2.

The Spectres will close out the first half at San Diego.

Game 79: Jay Buhner hits his fifth home run, a three-run shot, that helps the Spectres take a 5-1 lead, and they hang on for dear life to beat the Conquistadors 6-5. Robb Nen gets his 25th save.

Game 80: Geoff Jenkins strands eight baserunners with an 0-5 performance and the Conquistadors beat the Spectres in 10 innings, 3-2. Philly wins its 12th straight and moves within a game of the division lead.

Game 81: San Diego turns a comfortable lead into an insurmountable one, scoring 11 times in the seventh inning, and takes the series by an 18-3 score.

Montreal stumbles into the break with a 48-33 record, now tied for the division lead with the red-hot Seaphils, who have won 13 straight.

Montreal places four players on the NL All Star team: pitchers Chuck Finley and Robb Nen along with Edgardo Alfronzo and Ken Griffey Jr.

The Spectres will start the second half at home, facing St. Louis.

Game 82: The Spectres' woes continue as the second half begins, with Montreal dropping a 5-4 decision to visiting St. Louis. Mike Remlinger chokes up a 4-3 lead, sending his ERA to 6.70. Drastic changes may be necessary.

Game 83: Cliff Floyd hits two solo homers for St. Louis and the Spectres largely waste a 4-4, 3 XBH performance from Geoff Jenkins, dropping a second straight game to the Blue Storm, 4-2.

Game 84: The Spectres finally find home plate again, scoring in double digits for the first time in 10 games, salvaging the series finale against St. Louis, 10-3. Jay Buhner homers twice and drives in five; Kelvim Escobar goes seven and improves to 7-5.

Interleague sets with St. Paul, Baltimore, and Kansas City are next.

Game 85: Lima Time comes to Montreal and Jay Buhner likes it. Buhner continues his power surge with a three-run homer in the first and Chuck Finley pitches a brilliant game to beat St. Paul 4-1. Finley improves to 9-3; Robb Nen gets the last out for his 26th save.

Game 86: The Spectres have another late-inning explosion, putting six on the board in the eighth, and rally for an 8-6 win over St. Paul. Omar Daal lasts lonly three innings but the bullpen keeps the game in reach.

Game 87: In a typical Willie Blair performance, he allows two home runs and four runs overall in 5.1 innings as the Spectres drop the game at Baltimore, 7-5. Blair now has an ERA of 8.03 and is 3-6 on the season.

Game 88: Dave Burba strikes out 11 and the Spectres have another six-run eighth inning as they earn a split with Baltimore, winning 12-5 at home. Ken Griffey Jr. has three extra base hits and five RBI.

Game 89: Montreal rallies from a three-run deficit to tie the game in the ninth, but Barry Bonds sends the KC crowd home happy when he leads off the bottom of the 10th with the game-winning homer off Eddie Guardado. Spectres lose, 6-5.

Game 90: Montreal evens the score with KC, getting a three-run homer from Jay Buhner and a clutch performance from Robb Nen, who retires two batters with the bases loaded to save an 8-5 win.

Montreal goes 4-2 in this interleague stretch and now has a tough road trip, visiting Wrigley Field and Dodger Stadium to face the Central and West division leaders.

yer goin down, forg

Game 91: The Spectres survive a two-inning outing by starter Omar Daal and a ninth-inning three-run homer by John Olerud to take the opener at Wrigley, 8-7. Robb Nen gets his 29th save despite allowing the Olerud longball.

Game 92: Montreal stages a furious rally, scoring seven runs over the eighth and ninth innings to tie the score at nine, but Eddie Guardado fails to retire a batter in the bottom of the ninth, allowing a double, walk, wild pitch, and finally a game-winning single as the Bootleggers even the series with a 10-9 victory.

Game 93: Melvin Mora hits his first home run of the season, Ramon Hernandez drives in six, and the Spectres take the series with a convincing 17-6 win at Wrigley. Dave Burba isn't particularly sharp but gets his eighth win.

The Spectres head to LA next.

Game 94: Randy Johnson shuts down the Spectre bats and the Looters take the series opener, 7-1.

Game 95: Mike Lowell hits a grand slam off Chuck Finley in the third to put LA up 5-3, but the Spectres get two homers in the seventh to retake the lead at 7-6. Matt Anderson pitches two scoreless innings and Robb Nen survives a shaky ninth to save the win.

Game 96: Omar Daal pitches eight shutout innings to pick up his second (count 'em, two) win of the season as Montreal beats LA 5-0.

The Spectres will host Milwaukee next.

Game 97: The Spectres continue to have problems against y starters, shut down by Bruce Chen and dropping the opener 3-1. Willie Blair pitches a decent game for a change but gets nothing but another loss to show for it.

Game 98: The suddenly stumbling Spectres drop another game to Milwaukee; Felix Rodriguez allows a tie-breaking two-run homer to Benji Molina in the eighth and the Spectres don't threaten to score after that, losing 8-6.

Game 99: Montreal takes a 3-0 lead in the first but the bullpen has another meltdown and the Krauts sweep the series with a 7-5 win in the finale.

The Spectres fall a game back of Philly and head to San Francisco with a bad taste in their mouths.

Game 100: Not even Chuck Finley can stop the skid; Frisco bludgeons him for four runs in the first inning and cruises to a 7-2 win.

Game 101: Omar Daal gives one of his best performances of the season, but the Spectres trail 2-0 after seven. They tie it in the eighth and then break it open in the ninth, scoring seven times (two on bases-loaded walks). Frisco gets one back in the ninth but Montreal prevails 9-3.

Game 102: Willie Blair allows three in the first, but only one is earned, and he makes it through six without allowing another run. Montreal erases the first-inning damage with a four-run second and sails to a 9-3 win over the Niners. Blair improves to 4-7.

The Spectres return to Montreal to face the Stingers.

Game 103: Cincinnati stings the Spectres, scoring seven runs in the second and sending the Montreal bullpen into exhaustion. Garrett Stephenson strikes out 11 Montreal batters and Cincy coasts, 11-4.

Game 104: The Spectres get a three-run homer from Jay Buhner and three RBI from Geoff Jenkins to help Kelvim Escobar to his eighth win, 8-3 over Cincy.

Game 105: Chuck Finley allows only an unearned run in six innings and the Spectre bullpen conributes three scoreless frames as Montreal edges the Stingers 2-1 to win the series.

Now a game back of Philly, the Spectres head to Houston to face the Lone Stars, who now lead the West.

Game 106: Houston's Kris Benson continues to carve his way through the NL like a hot knife through butter; he throws a complete-game 4-hitter at the Spectres as the Lone Stars win 7-1. Benson improves to 13-3.

Game 107: The Spectres hit three triples and engineer a two-run rally in the ninth to beat the Lone Stars 9-8. Robb Nen pitches a scoreless ninth for his 32nd save.

Game 108: A poor start by Dave Burba (13 hits, 8 runs in five innings) dooms the Spectres, whose too-little, too-late comeback features a four-run eighth but nothing of note in the ninth. Houston takes the series with a 9-7 win.

The Spectres return to Montreal to host San Diego, currently trailing Houston by a single game in the West.

Game 109: Montreal scores seven times in the second inning, Jay Buhner capping the festitivies with a grand slam, and although the Conquistadors nearly double up the Spectres in the hit column (14-8), Montreal wins 8-6. Robb Nen picks up his 33rd save.

Game 110: San Diego scores once in each of the first five innings off Chuck Finley, taking a 5-0 lead, but the Spectres respond with four in the sixth, four in the seventh, and three in the eighth, winning 11-5. Jay Buhner drives in five.

Game 111: San Diego scores three times in the first, the second, and then again in the ninth. Montreal's offense can't quite keep up and they drop the series finale 10-7. Ken Griffey Jr. drives in three runs to pass the century mark.

Montreal heads to St. Louis to face the Blue Storm.