All week, TSN will be rebroadcasting memorable games from the Montreal Expos' 1981 playoff run, including the very first Major League Baseball postseason game played outside of the United States.

You can catch Game 5 of the 1981 National League Divisional Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Montreal Expos on Wednesday at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN5, the TSN app, streaming on TSN Direct and on TSN.ca.

Nothing, it seems, would come easy for the Montreal Expos in the 1981 National League East Divisional Series.

After jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series against the defending World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies with wins at the Big O, the series took a dramatic shift upon its move to the City of Brotherly. Just as the Expos enjoyed the spoils of playing at their home park, the Phillies found the confines of Veterans Stadium to be quite friendly in their own right.

Facing elimination in Game 3, the Phillies turned to veteran righty Larry Christenson. Christenson, 27, had spent the majority of the season as a starter, but had been bumped to bullpen duty by the end of August. In the regular season, he was 4-7 with an earned run average of 3.54 and a 1.294 WHIP over 106.2 innings pitched. The Expos would counter with Ray Burris. The 30-year-old Burris was 9-7 in 1981 with a 3.05 ERA and 1.165 WHIP over 135.2 IP.

The Expos would draw first blood in the top of the second. Gary Carter led off the frame with a double to left field. After Christenson retired Larry Parrish and Terry Francona, Chris Speier stayed hot with his third hit of the series, a single to left to plate Carter for a 1-0 lead.

The Phillies didn't take long to take the lead. Gary Matthews and Keith Moreland opened up the bottom of the second with back-to-back singles to centre off of Burris. Burris got Larry Bowa to fly out before Manny Trillo cashed Matthews with - you guessed it - a single to centre to tie the game. Andre Dawson's throw missed the cutoff man and allowed Moreland to also score to give the Phillies a 2-1 edge.

Philadelphia would tack on some insurance in the sixth. Moreland led off the inning with a single off of Burris before being moved over to second with a Bowa sacrifice bunt. After intentionally walking Trillo, Jim Fanning lifted Burris in favour of Bill "Spaceman" Lee. The first batter Lee faced, George Vukovich ripped a single to centre to score Moreland. With two outs in the inning, Pete Rose singled to right to bring home Trillo and the Phillies took a 4-1 lead.

The Phillies would go on to score two more in the seventh before a Carter sac-fly in the eighth brought back one for the Expos, but the home team held on for a comfortable 6-2 win to get back in the series at 2-1.

The Expos would have another opportunity to advance to the National League Championship Series in Game 4, also at Veterans Stadium. Righty Scott Sanderson (9-7, 2.95 ERA and 1.114 WHIP) would take the hill for the visitors, while Dallas Green countered with Dickie Noles (2-2, 4.17 ERA and 1.371 WHIP). Neither starter would last particularly long in what would turn out to be the best game in the series.

For the first time in the series, the Phillies would get on the board first. After retiring the first two batters he faced, Sanderson surrendered a single to Bake McBride. The next batter, Mike Schmidt, went yard off of Sanderson to give the home team a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

Sanderson's night would end in the third inning. Fanning turned to the pen with two outs in the inning and Rose on third and Schmidt on second. Sanderson's outing was over after just 14 batters. In his stead came Stan Bahnsen to face Moreland. The batter got the better of the encounter, singling to right to score both runners and increase the Phillies' lead to 4-0 and greatly increase the chances of a Game 5.

But it was still early and the Expos werent ready to roll over just yet.

In the fourth, a Carter solo shot off of Noles got one back. Noles's night would end the following inning when he got into trouble. The red-hot Speier led off the frame with a double. That was followed up by Noles walking Jerry Manuel. Brad Mills, batting in the pitcher's spot, also walked to load the bases with nobody out. Green came out to send Noles to the showers and turn to Warren Brusstar, who was able to minimize the damage. A sac-fly by Jerry White to plate Speiers was the Expos only run of the inning, cutting the lead to 4-2.

The Expos managed to get to Brusstar in the sixth. With two outs in the inning and Parrish on second and Speier on first after his third hit of the game, John Milner, pinch-hitting for Manuel, singled to right to score Parrish. Green went back to the 'pen for Sparky Lyle, but he gave up a single to Wallace Johnson, who was batting in the pitcher's spot, that scored Speier to knot the game at 4-4.

The two teams would immediately trade runs again. The Phillies would jump right back on top in the bottom half of the inning. Expos reliever Woodie Fryman surrendered a solo shot to Matthews, the first batter he faced, as the Phillies retook a 5-4 lead. But Phillies reliever Ron Reed would give it right back. White scored from first on a Carter double to knot things back up at 5-5.

As it would so happen, nine innings alone couldn't settle Game 4 and overuse of Fanning's prized bullpen weapon might have proven to be the Expos' undoing.

With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Fanning turned to closer Jeff Reardon, who closed out the first two games.Since his acquisition from the New York Mets midway through the season, Reardon had become a workhorse for the Expos. On five occasions during the regular season, Reardon had been tasked with working at least three innings. While there might not have been a usage set for him in Game 4, Reardon would end up finishing the rest of the game for Montreal.

It would be the first batter Reardon faced in the extra frame who ended the game to force a Game 5. Batting for pitcher Tug McGraw, who would ultimately get the victory, George Vukovich blasted an inside offering over the right-field fence to win the game 6-5 for the Phillies and square the series at two.

So Game 5 left the Expos and the Phillies right back where they started, but this time it was do-or-die. It would, of course, be another ace vs. ace affair as the Phillies would send Steve Carlton back to the mound to take on Steve Rogers in a rematch of Game 1 in which Rogers got the better of the future Hall of Famer. If the Expos wanted to advance, they were going to have to finally win on the road.

Could Rogers make it two straight over the southpaw legend or would Carlton's magic send the Phillies right back to another NLCS?