79 Montreal vs 77 Pittsburgh

Sept 21 - Pirates 5, Expos 1

John Candelaria held the Expos scoreless until the 8th and finished with a 5-hit, complete game win, 5-1. Bill Robinson hit 2 doubles and a home run, and drove in 3 runs for Pittsburgh. Steve Rogers took the loss and fell to 1-6. Candelaria improved to 5-2.

Sept 22 - Pirates 10, Expos 4

Pittsburgh took a 2-0 lead in the first as Bill Lee and Jim Rooker locked up through 4 1/2 innings. The Pirates added

another run in the 5th when Rooker led off with a single, moved to 2nd on a bunt, to 3rd on a Garner single, then home on a ground out. Then Montreal imploded in the 6th. Four errors, a pair of singles, and a bases loaded walk resulted in 3 more Pirate runs and it was 6-0. It just got worse in the 7th when Pittsburgh added four more off Stan Bahnsen to go up 10-0. The Expos finally scored in the 8th, 4 runs, to make the final 10-4. Rooker (6-0) pitched 7 innings of 1-hit ball before leaving with the 10 run lead. Dave Parker had 1 hit but drove in four runs (one each on a sac fly and a walk). Bill Lee took his first loss of the season (6-1).

Sept 23 - Pirates 5, Expos 4

The Bucs make it 3 in a row with single runs in the 7th and 8th innings to go up 3 games to none and take a 3-game lead in the East. Pittsburgh took a 3-1 lead on solo HR by Al Oliver, Jim Fregosi, and Phil Garner. Then Dan Schatzeder settled down and pitched through the 6th inning. Meanwhile, bottom of the 4th, Warren Cromartie's 2-run double tied the game at 3, and then in the 5th Larry Parrish' solo HR made it 4-3 Expos. It stayed that way until the 7th when Frank Taveras singled, stole 2nd, then scored on Dave Parker's single to tie the game at 4. In the 8th, Ed Ott doubled, and with 2 out, Ken Macha singled in Ott to put the Pirates up 5-4. Bottom of the 9th, Gossage gave up a lead off single to Warren Cromartie. A bunt attempt failed as the Pirates got

Cromartie at 2nd. Rodney Scott tried to steal 2nd but was thrown out. Then Gossage fanned Parrish to end the game, 5-4. Kent Tekulve got the win (1-0) wihile Gossage got the save (7). David Palmer took the loss (1-1).

Sept 24 - Expos 3, Pirates 0

The Expos salvaged their hopes behind Rudy May's complete game shutout, winning 3-0. May scattered 7 hits but walked just 1. Gary Carter homered for the Expos. Rodney Scott and Andre Dawson also drove in runs. May improved to 3-0 while Jerry Reuss fell to 3-5.

--submitted by Jesse Elicker--