It’s a moment stuck in time that will wake up David Wright in cold sweats all winter long. Hopefully Carlos Beltran can comfort David and provide advice for dealing with such an at bat. You see Beltran had one of his own that ended the 2006 season.

Realistically though, Wright was up against the Master. There was nothing he could do. When Daniel Murphy slid into third, clapping his hands knowing the Mets had the best opportunity all night long to put the game away, the Master in the opposing dugout thought in the back of his mind that he had the Mets right where he wanted them.

Gary Cohen, who was rather emotional last night, stated that the Master would likely walk the basis loaded. But the Master had another idea. Instead he pitched to Wright. He knew that Wright would be over anxious. The Master had Wright pitched hard and inside. The count was worked to 3-2. All Wright needed to do was to zone in on a pitch he could drive and the game would be over. There was no way the Master would allow that. If the Master’s pitcher gave Wright something fat to swing at, he likely would have been beheaded after the game. The pitch was a bit high and outside. Wright had no chance as he swung late. The Master had won the first battle.

The next thing the Master did was to have Delgado and Beltran walked intentionally. The master knew that his chances were slim but like any good field general, he could increase his odds for success by exposing the enemy’s weakness.

Ryan Church, who has been awful lately, was next up. With the infield in, Church hit a hard grounder right at the second baseman. A fielder’s choice at the plate kept the game going. The master was one out away.

When catcher Ramon Castro struck out on a pitch not even remotely a strike, the Master felt content. The Mets were in incredible position to win the ball game. With a runner on third with no out and the big three hitters coming up, all with over 100 RBI, the Mets failed to score. And you wonder why the Cubs have the best shot of winning a World Series in a century.

The Master of course is Lou Piniella. You can now understand why the Mets so desperately wanted Piniella to manage back in 2002. Unfortunately the compensation the Seattle Mariners wanted, Jose Reyes, was too much. They settled for Art Howe and then the Mets became irrelevant.

As bad a loss as last night’s game was for the Mets you had to admire the fantastic job Lou Piniella did in the ninth inning. There was no way he would have walked Wright and Delgado intentionally to pitch to Beltran. Of the three hitters, Piniella correctly surmised that David Wright would be the most vulnerable to striking out being over anxious. That’s a good decision made by good scouting. And while we all admonish the Mets hitters for not being able to convert runs all night long, you must give credit to the Cubs who have a real bullpen.

For one night it was not the Mets bullpen that can be blamed. Oh sure, we could complain that Duaner Sanchez should not have allowed inherited runners to score and Ayala did have two outs in the 10th inning before he gave up three runs. Last night’s loss happened because hitters were not able to get runners in from scoring position. The Mets had first and third in the seventh and could not score. They had the bases loaded in the eighth and only managed a one run on a walk to tie the game.

Oliver Perez deserves blame too. He has had a miserable month. Perez was given a 5-1 lead thanks to Delgado's grand slam homerun but could not hold it. He began walking the ballpark like the Ollie of old. I think the Mets have to think very carefully about bringing this guy back next year. With what Scott Boras will want, it may be worth investigating other opportunities on the free agent market.

The optimist would say it could have been worse, the Phillies could have won. True, I guess. But the fact that the Phillies lost made last night’s Mets loss all the more devastating. Had the Mets won, they would be tied in losses back with the Phillies for the division lead with four games to play. The Mets would still be leading the wild card by 1.5 games.

Instead, the Mets remain 1.5 (1 game in the loss column) behind the Phillies and are now tied with the Brewers, who won last night, for the wild card.

Realistically the Mets will not win the division. It’s not impossible but it is highly improbable. For the Mets to get into the playoffs they must somehow figure out a way to win tonight against Rich Harden (10-2). That’s not going to be easy with Pedro Martinez facing the Cubs lineup. However if they can do that, the Mets are guaranteed to enter the weekend tied for the wild card lead. The Mets would have three games left with the Marlins while the Brewers will be playing the Cubs for three. Hopefully the Cubs can destroy the Brewers dreams like they have done to the Mets.

The Mets are now 10-10 in September. It’s not as bad as last year but this is not how the plans were drawn up. It really is going to take a miracle for the Mets to make the playoffs. And if they make it, do you honestly think they will beat the Cubs in the first round?