Veterans Carter, Knight Admit They Were Praying for It to End

Ray Knight and Gary Carter have played in a lot of games and been through many pressure situations before. Both, however, needed a little extra help Wednesday and turned their attention to a higher authority.

“Relief isn’t the word,” Knight, who drove in the winning run in the 16th inning of New York’s 7-6 victory over Houston that sent the Mets to their third World Series, said, “I’m not ashamed to say this, but I said a prayer after two were out.”

Knight’s sacrifice fly in the ninth capped a three-run rally by the Mets and his single in the 16th scored Darryl Strawberry with the go-ahead run, breaking a 4-4 tie.

“It was the most unbelieveable game,” Carter, who won Game 5 with a 12th-inning single, said. “But then that’s how this whole series went. I don’t know how to describe it. I’m so relieved and elated.”

The Astros tested the Mets’ nerves with a two-run rally in the bottom of the 16th and Kevin Bass was at the plate with two on and two out.

“You were on pins and needles on every pitch,” Carter said.

Bass swung and missed, giving the Mets the victory.

“I didn’t know what to do when I caught that last ball,” Carter said. “I threw my mask off. It was unbelieveable. I was just praying everything was going to work out.”

The game was the longest ever in postseason play in terms of innings and time. It also supplied as many thrills as any game in memory.

“To come back and score three in the ninth, it was unbelieveable,” Roger McDowell, who pitched five innings in relief, limiting the Astros to one hit, said.

“We were never taking anything for granted,” he said. “In the 16th, we were so high. I thought no way they were coming back.”

Then the Astros scored twice to close to within one.

“I thought, ‘Jeez, they’ve got to be down,’ ” McDowell said. “It was a nailbiter.”

Carter said the three-run rally in the ninth turned the momentum toward the Mets, who managed just two hits in the first eight innings off Houston starter Bob Knepper.

The teams traded runs in the 14th with Houston’s Billy Hatcher matching Wally Backman’s RBI single with a one-out home run that hit the screen attached to the left-field foul pole.

Strawberry led off the 16th with a pop-fly double that fell between center fielder Hatcher and second baseman Bill Doran.

“Things started happening,” Carter said. “We just didn’t die.”

“My ballclub never gets down,” Mets Manager Dave Johnson said. “My ballclub handled the pressure very well. They said we never played a tough game all year. Well, the pennant is the toughest thing to get. Even if you lose the World Series, you’ve won the pennant.”

Len Dykstra, pinch hitting for Rick Aguilera to lead off the ninth, hit a triple in the gap in right center.

“I thought we needed a little spark,” Dykstra said, who scored the first New York run when Mookie Wilson looped a single over second baseman Bill Doran’s outstretched glove.