There’s torture, cruel and unusual punishment but what the Mets put their fans through last night was about two grades beyond that.
Take your pick which was worse, watching Daniel Murphy remain stranded at third base after leading off the ninth with a triple, letting the Cubs back into the game after Carlos Delgado’s grand slam or Luis Ayala’s implosion in the 10th inning.
Add it up and you had a 9-6 Mets’ loss in 10 innings that made the NL wild-card race a tie. Will this be another colossal train wreck or narrow escape? Let the last four games decide.
With Milwaukee’s victory over Pittsburgh, the Mets’ wild-card lead is gone. But the Mets remained 1½ games behind Philadelphia in the NL East race, after the Phillies’ loss to Atlanta.
Derrek Lee’s RBI double against Ayala in the 10th untied the game before Aramis Ramirez slammed a two-run homer to give the Cubs their margin of victory.
“At this juncture probably our toughest defeat, no question,” interim manager Jerry Manuel said after the Mets’ fourth loss in five games.
The Mets were in position to win after Murphy hammered a triple against Bob Howry leading off the ninth, but David Wright struck out, and after intentional walks to Delgado and Carlos Beltran loaded the bases, Ryan Church hit into a fielder’s choice that nailed Murphy at the plate. Ramon Castro then struck out.
A half-inning later, the Cubs got to Ayala, who was in his second inning of work. Ryan Theriot singled and scored on Lee’s double before Ramirez unloaded for his 27th homer.
Suddenly, it didn’t matter that the Mets had scratched for a run to tie the game in the eighth or that Delgado hit his 13th career grand slam five innings earlier, helping knock out Carlos Zambrano after he allowed five runs in 42/3 innings.
“It was tough because we jumped on a guy who I think is one of the best in the game,” Wright said. “To throw that away and get nothing out of it, that hurts.”
On the brink of blowing a chance to tie the game with runners on the corners and nobody out in the eighth, Ramon Martinez drew a bases-loaded walk against Jeff Samardzija that made it 6-6.
In the seventh, Murphy hit a line shot that the first baseman Lee snared and turned into an easy double play before Kevin Hart retired Wright.
“This is not one of those bullpen type of things,” Manuel said. “This is strictly that we had some opportunities and we didn’t take advantage of it.”
Oliver Perez was all over the place and never got through the fifth inning for the Mets. The left-hander allowed five earned runs on six hits and five walks in 41/3 innings, squandering a 5-1 lead in the process.
Mark DeRosa’s two-run double signaled the end of Perez’s night. Duaner Sanchez then promptly allowed an RBI single to Reed Johnson. A second run scored as Murphy mishandled the ball in left.
Delgado’s grand slam highlighted a five-run third inning for the Mets, in which Argenis Reyes snapped an 0-for-25.
“It’s a four-game season,” Wright said. “It all comes down to who wants it more the last four games.”
mpuma@nypost.com
Cubs 9 Mets 6