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Lee, Ramirez lead way as Cubs stun Mets

Sep 25, 2008 - 4:48 AM By Doug Mittler PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- First, the New York Mets failed to hold a four-run lead. Then they missed plenty of chances. Finally, they lost their grip on the lead in the National League wild card race.

Derrek Lee doubled home the go-ahead run and Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run homer in the top of the 10th inning as the Chicago Cubs dealt the Mets' playoff hopes a painful blow with a 9-6 victory.

The Mets fell into a tie with Milwaukee (87-71) in the wild card race after the Brewers defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates earlier Wednesday night. The loss also kept the Mets (87-71) 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Philadelphia Phillies (89-70) in the National League East race.

The Phillies lost to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday.

"At this juncture, this is our toughest defeat, no question," said Mets manager Jerry Manuel, whose team went 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position. "This was not one of those bullpen type of things. We didn't take advantage of the opportunity."

Unlike the Mets, the Cubs made the most of their opportunities.

Ryan Theriot singled with two outs off Luis Ayala (2-10) - the Mets' sixth pitcher - and stole second base before Lee blooped a double to right field for a 7-6 lead. Ramirez followed with a two-run blast to left field.

Bobby Howry (7-4) worked out of a jam in the ninth and Kerry Wood pitched a perfect 10th for his 34th save in 40 chances.

Carlos Delgado hit his second grand slam of the season and 13th career in the third, but the Mets wasted a leadoff triple in the ninth by Daniel Murphy after failing to score in the seventh despite having runners on the corners with none out.

It was a crushing loss for the Mets, who still are battling the demons of last September as they blew a seven-game lead with 17 to play. It seems to be happening again. New York, which held a 3 1/2-game lead in the NL East entering this month, failed to come up with clutch hits.

"This is not what we scripted," Delgado said. "We let it slip through our hands."

After Murphy's triple in the ninth, Howry struck out David Wright and issued a pair of intentional walks to load the bases before getting Ryan Church to ground into a forceout. He then struck out Ramon Castro to end the threat.

New York also had runners on first and third with none out in the seventh against Kevin Hart and failed to score. Murphy lined into a double play at first base and Wright flied out.

The Mets tied the game at 6-6 in the eighth with a run off Jeff Samardzija. Delgado doubled, went to third on a single by Carlos Beltran and later scored on a bases-loaded walk to Ramon Martinez.

That came one-half inning after Chicago took a 6-5 lead thanks to an RBI double by Alfonso Soriano.

With the Cubs already having clinched home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs, Carlos Zambrano made his final regular-season start. The ace allowed five runs and six hits with four walks in 4 2/3 innings.

"What do I think? I'd give it mixed reviews," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said of Zambrano's performance. "He's rusty. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt."

Zambrano issued three straight walks in the third inning, including one to David Wright that forced in New York's first run. Delgado then sliced a full-count pitch the opposite way over the left field wall for a 5-1 lead.

"This loss was tough because we jumped on a guy who was one of the best in the game," Wright said. "To throw that one away, that hurts."

Meanwhile, Oliver Perez did not do the Mets' much-maligned bullpen any favors. The erratic lefthander allowed five runs and six hits in 4 1/3 frames with five walks and six strikeouts.

Mark DeRosa homered and drove in three runs for the Cubs but was forced to leave the game in the fifth inning with a mild calf strain. He is listed as day-to-day but will not play in the final game of the series on Thursday.

"It was a mild strain. It's not something to worry about," DeRosa said. "I was supposed to get tomorrow off anyway, but I hoped it would be under different circumstances."