Hard to swallow lost may spell doom for Mets.

This will one hurt for a while. It will hurt for the way it all ended, for the many missed chances and opportunities squandered by the Mets during this devastating defeat. There were times during last night game that you felt good and confident about the Mets, but this was a night of highs and lows and ultimately it all ended with the lowest feeling one could ever take from a baseball game.

The Mets fell behind early to the Cubbies 1 to 0 in the 3rd when Carlos Zambrano let a few calls that didn't went his way effect him to the point of losing his cool.
At one point during his meltdown, a already very agitated Zambrano seem to have lost it all when Jose Reyes antics at 3rd base with the bases loaded, was halfway down the line because Cubs 3rd baseman Aramis Ramirez was playing way off the bag for Delgado who was at the plate. At this point, Zambrano was talking to himself, losing his focus entirely, when he then went on to groove a fastball that Delgado deposit over the wall opposite field for an electric grand slam that seemed like the night's key hit at that moment. The big hit from Delgado seemed to be the end for the Cubs, but it was just the beginning.

Oliver Perez who was on the hill was now pitching with a 5 to 1 lead, but it was in the 5th that Perez had his own meltdown that would ultimately get the Cubs even. Perez left the game in that same 5th inning with the Mets up 5 to 3, and 2 runners on bases as Jerry Manuel called for the anemic Duaner Sanchez to follow Perez. Sanchez immediately came in and gave up the game tying hit to Reed Johnson who drove in Fukodome on a error by the Mets left fielder, Daniel Murphy, it was now all tied at 5.

With the game now heading into the late innings and with the bullpen from hell ready for action, the chances against the NL best seemed slim. In the 6th, Joe Smith, who has been one of the few out of the bullpen you could actually trust coming out of the bullpen, came in, got the 1st 2 batters, then gave up 2 out hits to Derek Lee and Aramis Ramirez. Jerry Manuel would then call for journeyman Ricardo(straight out of the Mexican League)Rincon, who would come in to get Fukodome to stop the Cubs 2 out threat. The game then moved into the 7th, as Jerry Manuel goes to Brain Strokes who gets the 1st 2 batters he faces, but then allows a Alfonso Soriano 2 out double that drives in the go ahead run as the Cubs take a 6 to 5 lead. A glance at the scoreboard and you see that the Brewers have taken a 3 to 1 lead on the Pirates, making the situation worsen.
In the Mets 7th Jerry Manuel uses seldom use Ramon Martinez as a pinch hitter to lead off the inning. Martinez who has only had 1 at-bat as a Met, collected a lead off double, his 1st hit as a Met, to get things started. Jose Reyes would then came in to bunt the runner over but reached base safely to make it 1st and 3rd and nobody out. Things were starting to feel good for the Mets at that point as things looked gravy. Up next was Daniel Murphy who would hit a line drive to 1st that turned things sour for the Mets when Reyes was doubled up at 1st. David Wright would then complete the failed opportunity as the Mets finish the inning without pushing in single a run.
The game moved on to the bottom of the 8th, when the Mets led off the inning with a Carlos Delgado double. Again the Mets had things going as Carlos Beltran would then single to make it a 1st & 3rd situation with no outs. Once again the Mets had the inning set-up and this time Ryan Church would take his shot at the Cubs bullpen. Church would then strike out for the 1st out. Up next for the Mets was Ramon Castro who went down on a grounder to 3rd that would strand Delgado at 3rd for the moment. The Cubs would then go on to walk Endy Chavez of all people to load the bases for Ramon Martinez who was looking for his 2nd hit as a Met. This time Martinez would walked with the bases loaded to tie up the score at 6. But that was all the Mets would get out of this inning as Jose Reyes who last night had the key hit would ground out for the 3rd out.
In the Cubs 9th, Luis Ayala came in and got a scoreless 9th to move things smoothly. In the Met 9th, Daniel Murphy gets the 3rd straight lead off hit for the Mets in consecutive innings, and this time it was a triple that got things started. The Mets quickly found themselves in great position and no outs yet again, but then Lou Pinealla would then make a ballsy move opting to pitch to David Wright who would go on to strike out for the 1st out. Pineala then walks Delgado and Beltran to pitch to the struggling Ryan Church with the Base loaded. Church was put in the clutch situation with the game on the line for for the 2nd time in the game. With the infield in, Church grounds hard for a force at the plate for the out, leaving it all for Ramon Castro. Bob Howry who was the Cubs pitcher in the messy situation, would go on to strikes out Castro and again strand the runners. At this point in the game, the feeling is that the Mets had just let this one get away, to many chances where gone to waste for the Mets to overcome. The game now enters extra innings, and the Brewers have just won their game and now wait on this one. In the 10th, Ayala is still on for the Mets as he gets the 1st 2 batters he faces, but then goes on to gives up the go ahead run when Derek Lee drove in Ryan Teriot with a double.
Aramis Ramirez then took out the Mets hearts when he followed Lee's hit with a 2 run bomb that blew the game 9 to 6. Right then and there you felt done as a Mets fan, and start to wonder if this would just be to much to overcome. No way do the Mets come back from this one, you just knew that nothing Amazing was going to happen on this night. The least liked Met (Luis Castillo) lead off the Mets last hope of an inning and went down weakly for the 1st out, you knew it was over. Jose Reyes struck out for the final out of the game, as Kerry Woods and the Cubs seal the deal on yet another Mets heart breaker. This one really hurts because of all the missed opportunities that were missed over and over on 3 consecutive innings. On many nights on a Mets lost, we would be talking about how the Mets had just lost the game because of the bullpen not doing their jobs. But on this night the bullpen did get the job done, as it was the Mets bats who could not execute and break the game through.
The devastating lost now puts the Mets and tonight's game, is a must miss win situation, once again. The hard lost now falls on the right arm of Pedro Martinez, who all season long has not shown the Mets faithful any confident that he will keep the Mets in it to win it. Pedro will need to overcome his 1st inning jitters, if the Mets plan on coming out on top in this crucial game. Rich Harden get the ball for the Cubs, as the Mets will try to rebound from their worst defeat of the season.
Painful.