Mets Get Even in Their Brush With Ryan, 5-1

The New York Mets, seemingly in danger of being overcome by Nolan Ryan’s smoke, instead erupted with fire Thursday night, beating the Houston Astros, 5-1, to even the National League playoffs at one victory apiece.

Ryan, who had fanned five Met hitters in the first three innings, may have fanned the flames of the Mets’ dormant passion when he knocked down Len Dykstra with a head-high fastball in the fifth inning, with the Mets already holding a 2-0 lead.

Dykstra, a short man with a shorter fuse, executed a barrel roll to save his skull, dusted himself off, glared at Ryan--and two pitches later slashed a ground-ball single to left.

Wally Backman followed with a run-scoring single, and Keith Hernandez delivered a two-run triple past diving center fielder Billy Hatcher. The Mets led, 5-0; Ryan was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the inning, and the Astros--despite 10 hits and 12 baserunners--managed just their one run off New York left-hander Bob Ojeda.

With that inning, the Mets, who were vaporized by Mike Scott’s 14-strikeout, 5-hit shutout the night before, destroyed the aura of Astro pitching invincibility that was starting to build within the Astrodome.

“It wasn’t going to happen tonight,” said Backman, who singled in the fourth for the Mets’ first hit off Ryan and subsequently scored the Astros’ first run of the series on Gary Carter’s double.

“We didn’t care who was out there, they were not going to shut us out.”

Ojeda, watching Ryan rifle through the Met lineup with stunning ease--the 39-year-old Astro right-hander struck out Carter and Darryl Strawberry in the second, then struck out the side in the third--had his doubts.

“When Ryan came out pitching like he does, everyone was a little nervous,” Ojeda said. “You could feel it in the dugout and on the bench.

“But then after the guys broke the ice in the fourth, you could almost feel the sigh of relief.”

An inning later, you could see the scream of defiance in Dykstra’s body language.

“I don’t know if it was intentional or not,” said Dykstra, who hit the dirt one pitch after hitting a long foul off Ryan, “but I definitely think it was a purpose pitch.

“I think it might have woke us up. It sure as hell woke me up.”

Dykstra’s single sent Ojeda--who had reached base on a force play--to second. Backman then grounded a single up the middle to a charging Hatcher in center.

Hatcher, whose diving catch in the second inning had taken extra bases away from Mookie Wilson, came up throwing but was way off target.

“It just tailed up the line,” Hatcher said. “The ball just got away from me a little bit.”

With Hernandez the next hitter, the game was about to disappear from the Astros.

“This is what I’ve worried about in this series,” said Houston third baseman Phil Garner, whose seventh-inning RBI single accounted for the only Houston run the crowd of 44,391 would witness.

“You can’t leave the game situation open for Keith Hernandez. He put it out of reach.

“They scored two runs in the fourth, but I figured if we hold them there, OK. But you can’t put Keith Hernandez in that situation.”

In his previous at-bat, Hernandez had hit an 0-and-2 pitch off his fists for a single, preceding Carter’s double and Strawberry’s RBI sacrifice fly.

This time, he launched a drive to right-center that sent Hatcher sprawling and Ryan scowling.

“I’m frustrated because when I have that kind of stuff I should win,” said Ryan, who has lost seven straight starts to the Mets since last beating his former teammates in 1984.

“I didn’t even give us a good shot.”

The Astros had their shots at Ojeda, an 18-game winner during the regular season, but left two runners on in each of the second, fourth, fifth and sixth innings.

“We can’t expect a guy to throw a shutout every night,” Garner said.

Astro catcher Alan Ashby, derided by New York Manager Davey Johnson as “no day at the park,” has had better nights at the Dome. Ashby came up three times with two runners on base and grounded out each time.

In the second, with runners on the corners and one out, Ashby hit a check-swing tapper to Ojeda, who gloved the ball and continued plateward, tagging a sliding Kevin Bass instead of flipping the ball to catcher Carter.

“I’ve never had that come up before,” Ojeda said. “He hit the chopper, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Bass. Usually, the easiest thing to do is flip the ball to the catcher, but I decided my best option was to go for him, and it worked out.”

But not before Ojeda tumbled over Bass.

“He’s a good athlete,” said Johnson, who nevertheless wasn’t thrilled by the demonstration, “but you don’t like to see your pitcher roll over like that.”

The series now moves to New York for three games at Shea Stadium, where Carter said the fans “will be rough and unruly--just the way we like them.”

Someone asked Johnson if there was a possibility that the best-of-seven series won’t return to Houston. Some of that vaunted Met haughtiness showed in his answer.

“Obviously, I can count,” Johnson said. “I hope you can, too.”

NL Playoff Notes Neither the Mets nor the Astros will work out today in New York. . . . Houston reliever Charlie Kerfeld, on Mike Scott, who struck out 14 Mets in Game 1: “Right now, I don’t think Ted Williams could get a hit off Scotty.” . . . A beach ball only slightly smaller than a blimp made an appearance in the stands. Dodger fans may recall that when Kerfeld picked Steve Sax off first base in a September game, he kiddingly said Sax was distracted by a beach ball in the stands. Asked if he planned to employ a beach ball during the playoffs, Kerfeld grinned and said: “That’s just a trick for the Dodgers. I was saving it for them.”

When Mookie Wilson singled in the eighth inning, it meant that every Met in the starting lineup (excluding pitchers) had at least one hit in the first two games. Every Astro has at least one hit, also. . . . Lopes is the fourth player to perform for three different teams in the playoffs, having been there with the Dodgers and with the Cubs (1984). The others are John Milner (Mets, Pirates, Expos), Joe Morgan (Reds, Astros, Phillies) and Richie Hebner (Pirates, Phillies, Cubs).

NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES ASTROS vs. METS RESULTS

Game 1 Astros 1, Mets 0 Game 2 Mets 5, Astros 1

SCHEDULE

DATE SITE TIME Game 3 Saturday New York 9:10 a.m. Game 4 Sunday New York 5:25 p.m. Game 5 Monday New York Noon Game 6* Weds. Houston Noon Game 7* Thursday Houston 5:25 p.m.

* If necessaryAlso. . . Saturday’s starting pitchers: Bob Knepper (17-12) vs. Ron Darling (15-6)