Mets blow chances and lose in the 10th

NEW YORK -- With another brutal loss, the New York Mets kept tumbling toward another September collapse.

Derrek Lee blooped a go-ahead double in the 10th inning off Luis Ayala, Aramis Ramirez followed with a two-run homer and the Chicago Cubs rallied from a four-run deficit to defeat the Mets, 9-6, Wednesday night.

New York, which wasted Carlos Delgado’s third-inning grand slam off Carlos Zambrano and a 5-1 lead, dropped into a tie with Milwaukee for the NL wild-card lead and remained 1 1/2 games behind NL East-leading Philadelphia.

New York had the winning run on third with no out in the ninth, but the Mets failed to convert on a strikeout, a ground ball to second and another strikeout.

Last year, the Mets imploded in one of baseball’s greatest folds, failing to make the playoffs after leading their division by seven games with 17 to play.