Luis Ayala allowed three runs in the 10th inning after the Mets blew a four-run lead. Al Bello/Getty Images

NEW YORK -- The New York Mets can't possibly match last year's collapse, when their seven-game lead evaporated in the last 17 games. Yet, they still manage to find ways to inflict pain on themselves, not to mention their poor fans.

What they couldn't find a way to do in their 9-6, 10-inning defeat to the playoff-bound Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night was get enough runners home from third with no one out. Three straight innings -- the seventh, eighth and ninth -- a Met stood at third base with no one out. Only once in those innings did the Met score. And that was on a bases-loaded walk.

The ninth inning looked like a certain win when Daniel Murphy opened the inning with a triple, and as the rookie put it, "three of the best hitters in baseball" coming up next, ready to break a 6-6 tie. But David Wright, who's been pressing, whiffed on a 3-2 pitch, then the Cubs intentionally walked Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran and got struggling Ryan Church on a groundout and Ramon Castro on a strikeout.

"Man, that is bad,'' brutally honest manager Jerry Manuel said after the season's most brutal loss. There are quite a few candidates for most brutal Mets loss. So how do we know this was the worst? Because Manuel said so.

"At this juncture, that was probably our toughest defeat ... no question,'' Manuel said. The reason Manuel began with the phrase "at this juncture'' is because four games remain. Still plenty more chances for pain.

Seven things we learned

1. If this was an audition for Carlos Zambrano to start Game 1 of the Division Series, Ryan Dempster might want to start warming up for that plum assignment. Cubs manager Lou Piniella said before the game that Zambrano "needs work.'' And Zambrano did cram a lot of work into one long third inning, when he walked three straight Mets and surrendered a grand slam to Delgado. Piniella said he gave Zambrano's effort "mixed reviews,'' which didn't sound like high praise. Some in Chicago wonder whether passing over Zambrano might be a risk considering his fragile psyche and temperamental nature (Piniella went out to try to calm down Zambrano at one point, to no avail). But Piniella has little choice. Beyond the freak no-hitter against hurricane-addled Houston, Zambrano's been pretty terrible lately. Dempster isn't a bad choice, anyway. "He's been our best pitcher all year,'' said one Cubs official. Dempster's 14-3 at Wrigley this year. "That tells you something,'' Piniella said. That tells me he'll probably pass over his supposed ace for Game 1.

2. Chants of "MVP, MVP,'' rang out when Delgado hit the third-inning home run that changed the game. He's a worthy candidate, really, and far from a poor choice, as he's carried the team for much of the past three months following a terrible first three months. It's funny, Delgado and Johan Santana weren't All-Stars (heck, back then Delgado was a candidate for release), and now they are both bidding for postseason hardware.

3. Piniella still is one of the best in the game, and Cubs fans should be happy to know he isn't going anywhere after the year -- even if they win the World Series (heck, if they win the World Series, Cubs fans will be too delirious to notice). "I'm signed through next year. I'm going to honor my contract,' Piniella said. But still, it didn't sound like there were too many contracts to go. "I'm not a lifer, I'm not in this until I'm 70,'' Piniella said. "I want to enjoy my life a little, too.'' Ah, Lou looks like he's having fun in the dugout.

4. The Cubs put a very competitive lineup on the field. There can't be any complaints from the Brewers, who were none too pleased when Piniella used Casey McGehee at third base and rested slugger Aramis Ramirez on Tuesday. Piniella may have heard the whispers because he struck a defiant tone. "We're trying to win a championship,'' he said. "We'll do what we believe is best for the baseball team.''

5. Mark DeRosa may be the best player nobody talks about. DeRosa had a home run and two-run double before leaving the game in the fifth inning. DeRosa now has 21 home runs. Indeed, the Cubs lineup is deep and balanced.

6. Oliver Perez can be great, but he can also be infuriating. By the time he was pulled with one out in the fifth inning, he'd already thrown 105 pitches. At that rate, the game never would have ended.

7. Everyone loves Jerry Manuel. Great guy. But why did he call upon Duaner Sanchez up 5-3 with runners on second and third in the fifth? Sanchez lately has been one of the weaker relievers in an extremely weak relief corps. And Sanchez promptly allowed a hit to Reed Johnson that wound up tying the score when left fielder Murphy over-ran the ball. Joe Smith, who entered an inning later, would have been a better choice to replace Perez. (Manuel later explained that he thought Piniella would call upon a left-handed hitter if he employed Smith there.) But you know what, leaving in Perez would have been a better call, too. Johnson was the one batter Perez dominated, striking him out twice.