NLDS: ‘83 MON (1) vs ‘75 SF (4)
GAME 1 - Olympic Stadium
Expos 4, Giants 0
Steve Rogers (9 IP / 0 R) outdueled Jim Barr (7 IP / 2 R) in this series opener. Montreal scored solo runs in the first and second and could have scored more if Barr wasn't such a clutch performer. With runners on 1st and 3rd Barr fanned Tim "Eli" Wallach to end the first. In the second he got Al "Scoops" Oliver to hit into a inning ending DP with the bases loaded. Montreal gave Rogers 2 insurance runs in the bottom of the 8th when "the Hawk", Andre Dawson led off with a walk and stole second as Wallach got caught 
looking for the second out of the inning. Warren Cromartie picked up his teammate by singling home Dawson to make it 3-0. Doug Flynn then executed the perfect hit and run as Cromartie scored from 1st to make it 4-0. Rogers was never really in any trouble as in this 3 hit complete game shutout.
GAME 2 - Olympic Stadium
Expos 4, Giants 1
Lefty Pete Falcone did his best to battle Montreal's strong righty lineup. When he left the game after 7 innings of work he was however on the short side of a 2-1 score. Dave Heaverlo came on in the 8th and was tasked with not allowing a run. Unfortunately for the 'Jints Heaverlo got in trouble right off the bat. Manny Trillo walked and went to third on Al Oliver's single to right. A wild pitch allowed both runners to move into scoring position. Wallach, who has been struggling at the plate lately, popped out to shallow right. 
The ball was not hit deep enough for Trillo to advance. "The Kid", Gary Carter, lined a clean single to center to score both runs and give Expo hurler Charlie Lea more than enough runs to work with. Lea allowed a 1 out single to Derrell Thomas, but got Bobby Murcer to hit into a game ending DP to put the Expos up 2 games to none in this best of 5.
GAME 3 - Candlestick Park
Giants 4, Expos 3
In this most win elimination game Ed Halicki dominated Expo hitters until his tank hit empty in the 9th. San Fran was nursing a 1 run lead until the 7th when the got 3 big runs off of Expo starter Bill Gullickson thanks to back to back homers by Chris Speier and Steve Ontiveros. The Giants would need every one of those insurance runs as the Expos scared the heck out of them with 3 runs of their own in the 9th. After Tim Raines doubled home Cromartie with 1 out
pinch hitter Mike Vail singled home Raines and pinch hitter Bobby Ramos. "The Stick" was so quiet at this point you could hear a pin drop. Manager Ron Leone went to the pen and got the coveted lefty/lefty matchup and reliever Gary Lavelle got Al Oliver to hit into a game ending DP. The win kept the Giants alive for at least one more night.
GAME 4 - Candlestick Park
Giants 8, Expos 5
Trying to stave off elimination the Giants not only had to battle the #1 seed Expos, but they had to fight against two very powerful females: Mother Nature & Lady Lucky. Mother nature supplies 48 minute rain delay that effective ended "The Count" John Montefusco's day after 5 innings and 109 pitches. "The Count's line score might not have been all that impressive, but his ability to get out of jams and only allow 2 runs was key to keeping his team in it. His opposing number, Bryn Smith, had an identical linescore and so the game was tied at 2 when the rains set in. Montreal returned from the rain with some vim and vigor, but Lady Luck seemed to be their best ally as Montefusco's replacement Rob Dressler threw 8 pitches then slipped on the soggy mound and injured his knee. Dressler left the game immediately to seek medical attention and Mike Caldwell came on board to allow two runs on a Tim Wallach double. Dan Schatzeder came on board to face San Fran's tough
lefty lineup. On paper the lefty/lefty matchups would seem to favor the Expos. This was not the case as the 'Jints scored 3 runs in both the 6th and 7th innings to put the game away and force a deciding game 5 in Montreal. Schatzeder took the loss and Caldwell somehow notched the win. The Giants got big homers from Ed Goodson and Dave Rader.
GAME 5 - Olympic Stadium
Expos 8, Giants 2
The deciding game 5 was to be a repeat of the series opener matchup. Jim Barr would be on the hill for the Giants and game 1 winner, Steve Rogers , would be representing the Expos. Barr cracked first when he gave up 2 runs to the 'Spos in the bottom of the 2nd. Al Oliver hit a line shot that Barr snagged, only to throw it away. Tim Wallach walked to put runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out. Warren Cromartie "took one for the team" to load the bases. Doug Flynn grounded hard to third baseman Steve Ontiveros, who was playing in. Ontiveros hurried his throw and it sailed a bit on catcher Dave Rader. That was just enough to allow Oliver to score the first run of the game. Manager Leone came out of the dugout to argue, but it was to no avail as the umpires were not about to reverse the call. Rogers fanned on 3 pitches for the first out and Tim Raines grounded to second for out #2, but in the process Wallach scored easily to make it 2-0 Expos. It would stay that way until the top of the 7th when the Giants finally solved Rogers' mastery over them. After 15 consecutive scoreless
innings vs the Giants, Rogers finally allowed some runs. San Fran scored twice to tie the game up at 2. Garry "Sarge" Matthews, Willie Montanez and Chris Speier led off the inning with 3 consecutive singles. Steve Ontiveros walked to force in the Giants first run of the game. It was now one of those times in a ball game where a pitcher needs to make a big pitch. Rogers did just that by getting slow footed catcher Dave Rader to hit into a tailor made 4-6-3 DP. On the play Montanez scored the tying run, but Rogers was able to limit the damage and not allow San Fran to take the lead. Pinch hitter Greg Adams flew out to center to end the inning as San Fran blew a great opportunity to take the lead and possibly knock Rogers out of the box. With the tension mounting on both benches Giants reliever Dave Heaverlo was the first to show an adverse affect. The inning began harmlessly. Chris Speier led off and grounded weakly to short. Speier had to enter the game in the 6th when Al 
Oliver jammed his thumb and had to leave the game. Tim Wallach blooped a single to right, but the next batter (Warren Cromartie) flew out to Bobby Murcer for the 2nd out of the inning. That's when things got a little strange. Mike Caldwell came on board for the lefty/lefty matchup and proceeded to walk Terry Francona, who battled back from a 1-2 count. Montreal countered with pinch hitter Mike Vail, which hastened Caldwell's exit in favor of righty Charlie Williams who bounced a 2-1 pitch in the dirt that Rader could not block. That put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Vail took ball 4 to load the bases. With a 1-1 count on Tim Raines and the runners moving "the Rock" hit a one hopper to second that went right under Derrell Thomas' glove to score Wallach and give Montreal a 3-2 lead. That error was San Fran's 3rd on the day. Randy Moffitt was brought on to relieve Williams. Bryan Little worked the count to 3-2 when he lined a single to right to score both Francona and Vail to make it 5-2. Gary Carter was up
next and he hit a soft liner to right to score Raines and move Little to third. Moffitt uncorked another wild pitch to make it 7-2 with Andre Dawson at the plate. Moffitt jammed "the Hawk" who flared one into left that Matthews let hit the heel of his glove for San Fran's 4th error of the day. That gave the Expos 6 runs, all with 2 outs and a commanding 8-2 lead going into the top of the 9th. Bob James came on board to finish it out for Rogers and fanned Matthews and Montanez before getting Speier to fly out to right to end the game and the series. The Expos dodged a huge bullet and almost blew this series after going up 2 games to 0.
Montreal will host the well rested '51 Boston Braves in the LCS.
Special Note: Chris Speier had the unenviable task of playing on both teams during this series. For the Giants he was an All-Star shortstop. For the Expos he was a platoon playing middle infielder.
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