Game 42: Denny Sharritts throws five scoreless innings, but then allows three straight hits to start the sixth. All three runners score, giving the Stranglers a 3-2 lead. In the seventh, however, Richie Hebner puts Milwaukee back in front with a two-run double. Ted Abernathy, Ken Johnson, and Darold Knowles combine for three shutout innings after that and the Riders sweep Boston with a 4-3 win in game 3.

Milwaukee returns home to face the White Sox, at 25-17 one of two teams ahead of us in the wild card race.

Game 43: Milwaukee is no match for Tom Terrific.. Chicago's Tom Seaver throws a complete game five-hit shutout as the White Sox take the opener, 5-0. Ted Kubiak has three hits for the victors, and Len Gabrielson hits his first home run.

Game 44: Another Hall of Fame pitcher shuts down the Riders.. Tommy John falls to 1-5 as Juan Marichal throws a complete game for the White Sox. Rick Monday and Bill Melton homer for Chicago in an 8-3 win.

Game 45: The White Sox complete a convincing sweep, winning the finale 11-1. An error by Tyron Carrigan leads to five unearned runs. Larry Hisle's sixth homer accounts for the Riders' only run.

Back under .500 at 22-23, Milwaukee is now six behind Chicago in the wild card race (and five back of Minnesota). We head to Washington to face the 19-26 Commandos.

Game 46: Milwaukee drops another game, blowing a 4-0 lead after five, then blowing a 6-4 lead in the TWELFTH inning, and finally losing in the 13th on Carl Yastrzemski's run-scoring double. Mopup man Gary Wagner is the last man standing and takes the loss.

Game 47: The skid reaches five games when Denny Sharritts fails to retire any of the six batters he faces. All come around to score. While the Riders outhit Washington 12-7, they score no runs after the third and end up on the wrong side of an 8-5 score.

Game 48: Milwaukee outhits the Commandos again, 8-6, but loses on the scoreboard, 6-4. Richie Hebner's error leads to two unearned runs during a four-run sixth. That saddles Darold Knowles with his first loss.

Milwaukee will face the bottom two teams in the NL West over the next four days.. Houston and San Diego.

Game 50: The Riders score early and (not-quite-as) often in the County Stadium game, taking a 7-1 lead after five. Ron Reed pitches eight brilliant innings and Milwaukee leads 8-1 after eight. Mopup man Gary Wagner enters to pitch the ninth and allows five straight runners to reach base. Darold Knowles enters, gets two fly outs and then walks Dick Allen, bringing up Roberto Clemente with the bases loaded. BOOOM! Clemente homers, and the game is tied at eight. Bob Humprheys retires Ed Spiezio and we now face extra innings unless we can score in the bottom half. Bob Aspromonte leads off with a double, is forced to stay on a poor bunt by Tyron Carrigan, and remains there again when Nate Colbert is walked. Al Ferrara singles, but Aspro is held at third. Winning run on third, one out. Terry Harmon comes to the plate.. ground ball towards the hole.. it's THROUGH!!! Game winning single!

Game 51: The Riders manage to lose a game to the horrible (9-42) San Diego Conquistadors, managing only three hits and allowing a game-winning homer in the eighth to Willie Lanham. Ted Abernathy, who had been pitching well after a horrible start, is the victim. Disgusting.

Game 52: Milwaukee prevents San Diego from reaching double digits in wins, blasting four Conquistador pitchers for 15 hits in a 13-4 win. Denny Sharritts throws 5.1 scoreless innings for the win. Wayne Comer scores five runs; Nate Colbert and Tyron Carrigan each drives home four.

Milwaukee heads to New York to face the Mammoths before heading into the second round of divisional play.

Game 53: Milwaukee gets offense from both expected sources (four RBI for Nate Colbert, three RBI for Richie Hebner) and unexpected (three hits from Marcus Shady, a three-run homer by Don Cardwell) in a 15-9 series-opening win. The Riders score nine runs in the fifth inning. Tyron Carrigan has one hit in five at bats and his batting average falls to .500.

Game 54: Milwaukee gets back to .500 with a third consecutive double-digit scoring game, beating New York 12-3. Nate Colbert hits two homers, putting him in double digits for the season, and Jake Gibbs makes a triumphant return to the lineup with SEVEN RBI. Gibbs hit an RBI single in the second, a bases-loaded double in the fifth, and then a bases-loaded triple in the seventh. Tommy John gets the win, his third.

Game 55: Milwaukee's offense is stuck in mud after three straight double-digit outings, but Ron Reed is brilliant after a hiccup in the first, and the score is tied at one after eight innings. In the top of the ninth, Nate Colbert connects for his 11th homer, giving the Riders a 2-1 lead. Reed retires Reggie Smith in the bottom half, then gives way to Ted Abernathy, who gives up line drives to both Norm Cash and Ike Brown, but both right at a fielder. Abernathy has his third save and the Riders have a sweep.

Milwaukee heads home to face Kansas City (25-30)

Game 56: Milwaukee is on the wrong end of the blowout in this one.. Kansas City takes advantage of SIX Rider errors and shaky pitching to score a 19-1 win. Gary Wagner allows 11 runs in the eighth and ninth innings.. all unearned. In all, 12 of the Sith runs are unearned. Nate Colbert's homer accounts for Milwaukee's only run.

Game 57: Denny Sharritts puts forth another decent outing, but he can't quite match KC's Don Wilson, who shuts out the Riders for seven innings. Milwaukee can't get anything going against the Sith bullpen either, and loses 3-0.

Game 58: It seems like double digit scoring was the norm not too long ago, but suddenly the Riders can't buy a run. They drop a third straight to the Sith, scoring only one unearned run. Don Cardwell throw 5.2 scoreless innings but the bullpen allows two runs and the Sith steal a 2-1 victory.

The Riders head to Anaheim looking for some bats.

Game 59: Another pathetic performance by the offense in a 6-1 loss to Hells Angels. Larry Hisle's double is the only extra base hit. Tommy John falls to 3-6.

Game 60: The Milwaukee offense finally puts a crooked number on the board, but Ron Reed is brutalized by Anaheim's hitters in a 13-6 loss. Mike Lum hits his first homer for the Riders. The Angels hit five homers (three off Reed, two off mopup man Gary Wagner).

Game 61: The Riders are swept for the second consecutive series. Anaheim scores three runs in three different innings, getting three doubles and five RBI from Don Money, in a 9-3 win. Milwaukee gets only six hits.

Game 62: Oakland continues our misery, scoring on a bases-loaded walk in the 11th to win the opener 4-3. Oakland has 17 hits but strands 17 baserunners. Milwaukee manages only five hits in 37 at bats (all for extra bases). Ken Johnson takes the loss in relief.

Game 63: FINALLY! Milwaukee wins a game. Denny Sharritts gets shelled in the third, allowing six runs, but the Riders score five in the seventh to tie. Ted Abernathy allows two in the eighth to give Oakland a 9-7 lead. Nate Colbert's homer in the bottom half cuts the lead in half. Ken Johnson pitches a scoreless ninth and Ted Sizemore homers to lead off the ninth, tying the game at nine. Wayne Comer and Richie Hebner get singles, and Nate Colbert comes to the plate with two down. He hits a smash through the middle for a single and the Riders win, 10-9. Colbert is hitting .317, slugging .594, and by far the team leader with 14 homers and 57 RBI. He ranks fifth in the league in RBI.

Game 64: After going 8-4 against the division the first time around, Milwaukee finishes this round 1-8. Tommy John allows only three hits in seven innings of work, but Grant Jackson is masterful for the Invaders, allowing no earned runs in eight innings. Oakland scratches by with a 2-1 win.

Interleague play returns as Milwaukee will face the Los Angeles Sunsets before starting a stretch of games against the PL Central Division.

Game 67: Milwaukee drops into fourth place, dropping the opener to the Flames, 7-5. Don Cardwell is touched for six runs in the second inning, highlighted by Ernie Banks' grand slam. Kenneth Jansen hits his first homer for the Riders, and Larry Hisle his eighth, but Milwaukee strands 10 baserunners.

Game 68: Montreal scores on a double play grounder in the seventh to tie the game, then matches a walk with two singles in the bottom of the ninth to steal game 2 from the Flames, 4-3. Kenneth Jansen drives home Larry Hisle with the game-winner.. Hisle's two-run homer earlier accounted for Milwaukee's first score of the day.

Game 69: Larry Hisle hits another home run, his 10th, Wayne Comer adds a pinch hit, two-run shot, and Tyron Carrigan has three hits to raise his average back to .481 as the Riders take the series with a 7-3 win in the finale. Darold Knowles throws two scoreless innings for his fifth save.

With those wins we are 32-37 and tied for third in the division with Anaheim. We head to Detroit next to face the Central-trailing Stars (29-40).

Game 70: Jim Maloney throws seven scoreless innings, and the Riders score the winning run on an error by Glenn Beckert, as they take the opener in Detroit, 2-1. Wayne Comer has two hits and two walks but is stranded each time.

Game 71: Another close one as Milwaukee plays their third one-run game in the last four. This one is quite a roller coaster, as the Riders enter the ninth trailing 3-0, but take the lead on a pair of bases-loaded singles by Ted Sizemore and Kenneth Jansen. Bob Humprheys allows three singles in the bottom half, however, allowing Detroit to tie the game before Ted Abernathy enters to get the last out. The Riders follow with three singles of their own in the 10th, the last one by Bob Aspromonte, and Abernathy works around a leadoff walk to preserve the win.

Game 72: ARGGGHHH!!! Kermit's old nemesis, Earl Wilson, is back! He shuts out the Riders 4-0 on seven hits. Larry Hisle takes a golden sombrero (0-4, four strikeouts). Milwaukee puts 12 people on base, including a leadoff triple by Bob Aspromonte in the fifth, but strands each one.

At 34-38, we are five games behind Cleveland in the wild card standings. We're off to Minnesota to face the Muskies.

Game 73: This trip to Minnesota was a bad idea. Mickey Lolich mesmerizes the Rider batters, striking out 10 in seven innings, while the Muskie hitters have no such problems, smashing 23 hits (including four homers) and scoring 12 runs off mopup man Gary Wagner in the final two innings of a 19-1 blowout. Milwaukee strands 11 baserunners in this one, making 23/24 ratio of stranded runners in the last two games.

Game 74: Larry Hisle comes to play in this one.. he hits a two-run single in the fifth to give the Riders a one-run lead, then blasts a two-run homer in the seventh to break a tie. Ted Abernathy lowers his ERA to 4.38 with a scoreless ninth to earn his fourth save in a 5-4 win.

Game 75: Milwaukee can't get it done in the finale, dropping the series to the Muskies with a 3-2 loss. The Riders score two in the first to take an early lead, but manage only six hits on the day (none for extra bases) as Joe Horlen and a trio of Minnesota relievers shuts down the bats.

Two series until the All Star break, we are headed to Baltimore to face the first place IronBirds and slowly coming to the realization that we are sellers in the trade market.

Game 76: Ray Culp wins his tenth game for Baltimore, throwing 6.2 scoreless innings against the Riders. Buddy Bradford and Ollie Brown each drive home two runs in the IronBirds' 4-0 victory. Tommy John falls to 3-9.

Game 77: Denny Sharritts is the sacrficial lamb for the second game of the series, and the results are predictable. Sharritts gives up only three hits but walks five and the IronBirds romp to a 9-2 win.

Game 78: Baltimore approaches double digits again, scoring five off starter Ron Reed, then coaxing three walks out of reliever Bob Humphreys before Humprheys is lifted. All three of those runners score. Al Ferrara FINALLY hits his first homer for the Riders, but the IronBirds draw 10 walks and smash 11 hits on the way to a 9-6 win.

Our last series before the break is against Boston (34-44). It is thought that Nate Colbert will remain out of the lineup until after the break.

Game 79: The Rider offense goes back into hibernation for the visiting Stranglers. Bob Aspromonte's throwing error allows Boston to tie the score at two in the sixth inning, and the game goes into extra innings. Al Ferrara's horrible range in field allows two Boston batters to reach base on lazy fly balls in the tenth, and Johnny Bench drives home the lead run. Tyron Carrigan walks with two out in the bottom half but Sparky Lyle strikes out Larry Hisle to end it.

Game 80: Larry Dierker of the Stranglers throws a complete game 6-hit shutout at the Riders, dooming Don Cardwell to an undeserved 2-0 loss. No extra base hits for the Riders (this seems to be a recurring theme).

Game 81: Denny Sharritts does not pitch badly, although his appearance is far too short (1 earned run in 3.2 innings, he threw 72 pitches). Bob Humphreys and Pee Wee Musick, however, combine to allow eight runs in a span of two outs. A small ninth inning rally does little to lessen the sting of a seventh straight loss, 9-3.