July 13, 1987

LEAD: In the afterglow of their latest victory, the Mets renewed their enthusiasm for a division race and a summer of hot pursuit. They spoke again about the St. Louis Cardinals and the nine games that still remain with the National League East leaders, and they seemed to thrive on the thought of a rematch.

LEAD: SOMETIMES they have done it in explosive spurts; at other times they have displayed devastating slugging over longer stretches. In a season that has been dominated by debates over the liveliness of the baseballs, they have caused people to overuse their calculators and computers in daily computation of projections for season totals of hitting statistics that grow like Jack's beanstalk.

LEAD: American Airlines has offered a group of European airlines a model of its sophisticated Sabre computer reservation system in a deal similar to that concluded last week by United with three European carriers, according to officials close to the airline industry.

LEAD: The chairman of the Senate Iran-contra committee said today that Rear Adm. John M. Poindexter, the former national security adviser, had written a memo saying President Reagan had been told of plans to use profits from the Iran arms sales for covert operations other than supporting the contras.

LEAD: There is a distinct rhythm to each day, observed Kathie Jaroszyk. In the morning the clientele is mostly workers wanting a cup of coffee. Toward midday the lunch crowd arrives for soda, hot dogs or prepackaged sandwiches. In the afternoon children play video games. In the evening, traffic slows during the dinner hours but picks up as people come in to rent videotapes for the night or pick up snacks, beer or a box of diapers.