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Show In Pair A Mets-Astro- s: 0 Continued From I) knocked out Lupica New York Daily News Writer - clubhouse, after the pjrt about the uphill climb I don't caie what anybody else in the league thinks about the bleeping New York Mels They ve " got to respect us now as a team In the ninth Wednesday, after Knepper had simply hushed the Mets over tight innings (two hits), Hernandez fired a double up the gap to score the second Met run No one could know at the lime that there was almost another baseball game to be played, and make (lame Six between the Mets and Astros something that had a little Affirmed and Alydar, and maybe just a splash of Frazier and Alt, and some of that Reds vs Red Sox stuff from (la me Six of the 75 World Series "All I knew." said Hernandez, and I didn t want to say this yesterday, is that I did not want to face Mike Scott in Game Seven I felt today like we were the ones with our backs against the wall " For the first two hushed hours, it seemed like it would be the Mets against Scott Thursday, Scott being man who seemed able to turn the 108 wins into something scuffed and discarded But then the Mets rallied in the ninth And now the two teams who had already supplied such riches and drama and surprise since Scott's win a week ago Wednesday, gave this October war its big finish Mets vs Astros did not even need a seventh game to be something spo cial. to be set apart ' HOUSTON They will always be joined to the 28 innings played out across these two October afternoons in 1986, when a National League season did not want to end. and a pennant for the New York Mets seemed like it would never stay won The Mets and Astros play ed in New York and Houston, outdoors and indoors, on grass and on artificial turf, 12 innings on Tuesday, and finally the unforgettable 18 Wednesday in the Astrodome And now they are together in the history of their league, the way great horses remain fixed together in the stretch and boxers in the ring, one champ coming out of a party of two It was just one of those series, in what has become one of those grand baseball Octobers There was so much before Tuesday. And then came Games Five and Six of Mets vs Astros, which by the last excruciating out Wednesday had become a set, you know "The Winds of War," and then "War and Remembrance," and then a few innings more after that The Mets did not just win a pennant from the Astros. They answered questions about themselves and joined with the other guys to lift up their sport for a couple of days and let everybody in baseball know those 108 regular-seasowins did not come through the mail in the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes After Mets 3, Astros 2 in Game Five came Mets 7. Astros 6 in Game Six. It took 16 innings Wednesday, the n most in the history of play. The game lasted 4 hours and 42 minutes. The Mets came from three runs behind in the ninth to tie it. as they came from behind again and again against the Astros pitching in this series, when it seemed like they were only ahead for about 15 minutes. Then the Astros came back after that, in the 14th and 16th. Like it had become a coming-bachabit for both But more for the Mets. "An uphill climb the whole way," Keith Hernandez yelled in the clubhouse. "The only game we really led was Game Two." The Mets hit .189 for the National League Championship Series, no team had ever won a pennant hitting under .200 in a playoff series. They went They did not lead Saturday until Lenny Dykstra's home run won the game. They did not lead Tuesday until Gary Carters single won the game. They did not get even with Bob Knepper until the ninth Wednesday and didn't get the lead until the 14th, and did not send the Astros to next season until Jesse Orosco (3-for the series) finally threw something down and dirty to Kevin Bass in the 16th and Bass waved n post-seaso- k 0 goodby. They are more than these new champions of the National high-five- League, more than curtain calls and magazine covers and commercials and such. They were asked to be a great baseball team over the six games with the Astros. The Mets said, We can do that. They are more than hot dogs. About the hot dog business, the manager says cut it in half. "We showed the world. said Manager Davey Johnson, that we can dog it out better than anybody, even when we're hitting under .200. And Hernandez, grabbing a champagne bottle by the throat and wav- - self 1 starter John Candelaria Oi tuber Hi, l( 1)3 ' ' ' for Rice, who did not play in 1975 be the-on- 0 United Press inter notional Photo Bostons Jim Rice connects for a three-ruhomer in the 4th Red Sox World berlh Series clinched inning. Wednesday. n We expected a big game from felt that if Roger could hold them at tluee runs, we had a chance to win ' Rue said Clemens did Ins part, and so Jid I Roger Clemens, after failing to win his first two starts in the series, shook off touches of the flu and flashed the form that made him baseballs most dominant pitcher this season lie pitc hed four hit bull into the seventh and left the game to a thunderous ovation and chants of Roger. Roger' from the crowd of 31 Oi'l Its been a magical Near and a great finale," Clemens said I didn I want to relax out there I wanted to " keep the score dow n Second baseman Mart) Barrett said he felt the Red Sox took control of the senes when they rallied in Game 5 for a victor) that came after they had been down to their last strike We felt like we were playing with the house's money because we shouldn't have even been there " The World Series will be the lirst ng it triumphantly, yelled this in the By Mike Iburxdaj, Red Sox Hack in World Series Mold Ali-Fraz- ier o The Sa't Luke Tribune, cause of a broken wrist suffered in the final week of the season "1 waited a long lime for this." Rice said The Red Sox fans had also wailed a long tune for Rice to come through with a big hit And the slumping slugin the seger, who went just ries, did in the fourth with his towering home run "I havent been myself I've been pressing I haven't been my best, but the team came through," said Rice, who batted .324 with 110 RBI during the regular season ' I expected a big night from my Rue Now it remains to he seen whether the Red Sox came continue t heir sue cess against the Mets, who won Ifni games dm ing the regular season It will be the ultimate muichup ' Clemens said Bruce Hurst is expected tn st.nl Game for the Red Sox. wuh Cl'mi ens following the next night Clemens settled into a groove eat ly in the night and was nc er in serious trouble, striking out three while walking just one Clemens gave up a leadolf single to Ruppert Jones in the seventh and was relieved by Calvin Schiraldi. who ai lowed an RBI double to Doug I)e Cinees v. ith two out But he slrm k out the side in the ninth The Angels, meanwhile, kept up t pattern of misplays (hat belied then team Miscues bv experience-ladeshoitstop Dick Schofield and ccntei fielder Gary Uettis made the first seven runs unearned and gave California eight errors in the series, tying for the most ever by one club in a playoff series Boston finished with only eight hits, including a solo home run by Dwight F.vans in the seventh, but par 1 laved them into maximum production The Angels' offense, however, con tinned to miss rookie Wally Joy net who batted 455 in the first three games Wally Backman, who has seemed to be in the middle of every Met tally since he showed up m St Petersburg from Oregon, wanted to be a hero again. So he singled m Darryl Strawberry in the top of the 14th It made it Roger McDowell had just pitched the most crackling five innings of his young career (one hit, punch out 15 of 16 Astros). Now Jesse Orosco was asked to get three outs for the pennant, close out the Astros the way he had in the 11th and 12th Tuesday at Shea. But with one out, Billy Hatcher became the day's Dave Henderson (or Carlton Fisk) and hit a home run "At that moment," said Wally Backman, there were a lot of lumps in a lot of throats And on they went, into the 15th and then the 16th, into the fourth hour and past that, McDowell having given way to Orosco and Dave Smith to Aurelio Lopez, who would finally give way to someone named Calhoun Knight singled in the 16th and made it and then there was a wild pitch and Backman was home and then Dykstra was singling home another. Anyway, it was 4 after the top of the 16th. "Mumbo-jumbof an inning," said Davey Johnson. "I popped some more aspirin And still there was a sense that the Astros would throw a last punch. Pitching and heart made them great against the Mets o So of course it became in the bottom of the 16th. We had visions of playing all night," said Knight. Runners on first and second. Two out. One out from the first pennant since 73 Orosco, like a tired marathoner at the end of this marathon series, trying to count on Kevin get to the tape. A Bass. Strike three, swinging. There will be a World Series in New York Saturday night. Fine thing. Fine October thing 6 3-- 2 Excellent yaar-roun- d performance on or' off tha rod d Double construction flood handling steel-balta- S P16580R13BLK PI 7580R13WW PRICE 5 E $79 88 1123585016 1UPLYI 99 88 23575R1 QUALITY AND SERVICE FOR LESS 21575R15 P23575R15WW P19575R14WW PRICE SIZE 'Blems G ETjTH ES ERO RU CARTS N OWiTI R ESWATjlG R EATi EVERYDAYZCbVIL RR I C ES ! j NIK PLU$RADIAL steelTbeiied RADIAL Deer Processing in Utah mSimmB We make the best jerky . 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