Linda Cataffo/New York Daily News

& Rusty Staub has a long history with the Mets and Astros - formerly the Houston Colt .45s,

HOUSTON — The Houston Colt .45s and Mets came into the National League together in the 1962 expansion. After the Houston franchise was renamed the Astros, the teams played an unforgettable 1986 NL Championship Series that the Mets won with a Game 6 victory that ranks among the franchise's greatest. The Mets' 8-1 loss to the Astros on Wednesday, the teams' final Houston date in 50 years as National League combatants, won't even be a footnote in their shared annals.

"In the early years the teams were always compared — which city was going to be better in the long run," said Rusty Staub, who was with the Colt .45s beginning in 1963, through the name change and until 1968, before two stints with the Mets. "The Mets went for credibility with names, but Houston looked better with a group of young players like Joe Morgan, me, Sonny Jackson and Dave Giusti.

"We changed owners and all of us ended up getting traded. Then the Mets changed philosophies and went young with Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman and it sent them to that incredible 1969 World Series."

The '86 NLCS was the apex of the teams' competition, made only more intriguing by an incident the previous July when four Mets (Ron Darling, Tim Teufel, Bob Ojeda and Rick Aguilera) were arrested at a Houston nightclub and manager Davey Johnson suggested there had been police harassment.

The Mets had managed one run in 18 innings against the Astros' Mike Scott in the series and were scheduled to face him in Game 7. Trailing, 3-0, in the ninth inning of Game 6 at the Astrodome, the Mets scored three runs, tying it on Ray Knight's sacrifice fly. The game went 16 dramatic innings before the Mets won, 7-6.

"Scott was untouchable and we couldn't face him in Game 7," Darling said. "We were down 3-0 in the ninth against a pitcher (Bob Knepper) throwing the best game of his life and we ended up with an epic win. Put it this way: It was the greatest Game 7 that was a Game 6."

The Mets probably won't miss having the Astros in the NL when they switch leagues next season. Their all-time 256-307 record against Houston is their worst against any NL team.

TOO MANNY RUNS
Reliever Manny Acosta had left for the road trip pitching well with a 2.89 ERA. He finished it looking awful for a third straight outing, his ERA swelling to 9.69. He gave up three runs in two innings Wednesday and for the trip allowed 11 in 32/3 innings. "I need to concentrate on my fastball location," he said... RF Lucas Duda (virus) was scratched shortly before the game .