When it was over, the sellout crowd of 45,718 at the Astrodome applauded. The season was over for their Astros, but the fans applauded anyway, because of how it ended. Game 6 went 16 innings and lasted 4 hours and 42 minutes, making it the longest game in LCS history. The 7-6 Mets victory would be remembered among the greatest contests in postseason history.

With Astros starter Bob Knepper nursing a 3-0 lead in Game 6, the Mets scored three in the ninth to send it into extras, and that was a sign of the drama to come. Wally Backman's single in the 14th scored Darryl Strawberry to put the Mets up, but light-hitting Billy Hatcher sent a Jesse Orosco full-count fastball over the wall in left and into the foul-pole netting in the bottom of the frame to tied it once again. Two innings later, the Mets put up another three-spot, and the Astros countered with two in the bottom of the 16th. The show finally stopped with Kevin Bass striking out on a 3-2 Orosco slider.

This series had a little bit of everything. There was a classic pitchers' duel in Game 5, featuring the all-time strikeout king (Nolan Ryan) vs. the reason for modern K-cards (Dwight Gooden). Ryan went nine innings, and Gooden went 10. Neither was around for the decision, when Gary Carter singled home Backman in the bottom of the 12th for a 3-2 Mets series lead.

What if there had been a Game 7 and Mike Scott had been given another chance to start for Houston? "Scotty tomorrow" was the Astros' rallying cry on the day of Game 6. Scott struck out 19 (including an NLCS-record 14 in the opener) and allowed just one run combined while notching complete-game wins in Game 1 and Game 4. With another gem in Game 7, Scott might have been remembered for one of the greatest pitching series in postseason history.

And what if Houston had represented the NL against Boston, removing the Mookie Wilson-Bill Buckner connection? Would the Red Sox have reversed the curse much earlier than 2004?

MLB Network in 2011 ranked Game 6 of the 1986 NLCS as the fifth-greatest MLB game of the previous 50 years. It also was the swan song for the Astros' famous rainbow jersey after more than a decade of use.

Path to the NLCS: New York (108-54) won the NL East by 21 1/2 games; Houston (96-66) won the NL West by 10 games

Managers: Davey Johnson, NYM; Hal Lanier, HOU

MVP: Mike Scott