run from Kevin Bass that would have given the Astros a 1–0 lead. The Astros eventually did take a 1–0 lead in the fifth when Ashby doubled, took third on a single by Reynolds, and then scored on Bill Doran's ground-out. However, the Mets came right back and tied it in the bottom half when Darryl Strawberry smashed a homer for the Mets' first hit of the game and his second bomb of the series. The Astros had a runner reach second base in the eighth and tenth innings. However, in the eighth, with one out, Gooden got Denny Walling to fly out to Mookie Wilson in left field, where Wilson doubled off Doran from second base to end the inning. In the 10th inning, with two out, Gooden gave up a single to pinch hitter Terry Puhl, who then stole second base, and walked Doran. He got Billy Hatcher to fly out to right field to end the inning with no damage done. The game stayed tied until the 12th when with one out Backman got an infield single off Kerfeld. Backman then took second on Kerfeld's errant throw on a pick-off attempt. Houston manager Lanier opted to intentionally walk Hernandez and pitch to Carter, who had been just 1-for-21 in the series, but the catcher came through, lashing a single to center to give the Mets the win and a one-game lead as the series shifted back to Houston. Jesse Orosco again earned the win for New York by hurling two perfect innings. Game 6 In one of the most famous games in baseball history, the Mets defeated Houston at the Astrodome 7–6 in 16 innings as Jesse Orosco struck out Kevin Bass on a slider for the final out with runners at first and second, and New York advanced to its third World Series in franchise history. Houston took a 3–0 lead in the first innings against Bob Ojeda with an RBI double by Phil Garner, plus RBI singles from Glenn Davis and Jose Cruz, giving Astros' starter Bob Knepper an early advantage. They were unable to add more runs as Bass was thrown out at third base following Alan Ashby's botched attempt to lay down a suicide-squeeze bunt and then Ashby lined out to shortstop to end the inning. That lead held up for most of the game as Knepper was dominant, allowing no runs through