Some losses hurt more than others. The Mets' 9-6, 10-inning loss to the Cubs on Wednesday surely qualifies, and it will test the team's mettle.
The Mets, who led the NL East by 3 1/2 games with 17 to play, appeared to have the safety net of the wild card even after the Phillies caught them in the division. Now, after a gut-wrenching defeat, coupled with Milwaukee's win against the Pirates, that safety net is gone. The Mets and Brewers are now tied for the wild-card lead. And the Mets have no one to blame but themselves.
"Hopefully the sun will come up. It might not," disappointed interim manager Jerry Manuel managed to quip. "We've got to be ready to face it. We've got to be ready to endure. If we can somehow get through this, we'll be ready for prime time."
The Mets had runners on the corners in the seventh and eighth innings Wednesday, each time with none out, and mustered just one run combined from the two opportunities -- on a bases-loaded walk to Ramon Martinez in the latter opportunity. The Mets then left the bases loaded without scoring in the ninth despite a leadoff triple by Daniel Murphy. In all, the Mets went 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base.
"Man, that's bad. That's bad. That's bad," Manuel said. "We've got to find a way. We've got to find a way. We've got to keep pushing. We've got to keep pressing. To have a guy at third base to lead off an inning (with Murphy) -- a young player like that -- and not get him in, we have to do a better job. It is critical we do a better job."
CUBS 9, METS 6 (10 innings): Luis Ayala surrendered an RBI double to Derrek Lee and two-run homer to Aramis Ramirez in the 10th, in the closer's second inning of work, as the Mets dropped into a tie for the wild-card lead with the Brewers. The Mets wasted a leadoff triple in the ninth by Daniel Murphy. They stranded the bases loaded when David Wright struck out, Ryan Church grounded into a force out at the plate and Ramon Castro struck out.
