One day after making a crucial comeback against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Tuesday, the New York Mets couldn’t capitalize on their momentum. The Mets lost to the Cubs 10-3 in a Wednesday night game in which almost nothing went right for them.

New York’s offense was ice cold for most of the game, and the defense did little to slow Chicago as it built its lead. The Cubs nearly tripled the Mets’ hit count (11 for Chicago, 4 for New York), and played flawless defense as well.

The Mets entered Wednesday holding a one-game lead over the Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks. The Reds lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Diamondbacks were still playing their game against the Los Angeles Dodgers when the Mets wrapped. Four games remain.

The Mets blew an opportunity in ugly fashion

The Mets received a bad start from Jonah Tong and went hitless through the first four innings, but things managed to somehow spiral further in the fifth when New York’s brutal defense showed up. With two outs, Moisés Ballesteros scored from third base on Mark Vientos’ throwing error.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Pete Crow-Armstrong scored from second base on a wild pitch because Clay Holmes neglected to cover home plate in time, and Francisco Alvarez was slow getting to the ball.

Wednesday, the Mets’ defense didn’t cost them the game, but it was another ugly look for a team that should be playing with urgency. Over their last six games, the Mets have committed nine errors. It’s unbecoming for a team in a playoff push. — Will Sammon, Mets beat writer

Capable starting pitcher options are slim

For the second straight night, a Mets starting pitcher failed to record an out in the third inning. Tong lasted longer than David Peterson (1 1/3 innings Tuesday), but not by much. In two-plus innings, Tong allowed five runs, seven hits and two walks. He faced five batters in the third inning and didn’t record an out. Of the 12 opportunities against Tong, the Cubs registered eight hard-hit balls.

Through five starts, Tong’s ERA stands at 7.71. Figuring out why Tong’s fastball-changeup combination hasn’t consistently worked in the major leagues is an offseason problem for the Mets to solve. In the here and now, the Mets have one fewer pitcher they can confidently call upon. If such a list got any smaller, it wouldn’t exist.

As far as the Mets’ traditional starters go, the confidence meter is high for only Nolan McLean … and maybe Brandon Sproat — two rookies who hadn’t thrown a pitch in the major leagues before August. If the Mets make the playoffs, they can get creative and purposely shorten outings, but they have to get there first. Their starting pitching is making that increasingly difficult by the day. — Sammon

Well, actually, the entire pitching staff is a mess

In an interesting twist, Holmes and Sean Manaea appeared out of the bullpen, following Richard Lovelady (two innings), who relieved Tong.

McLean is set to start Thursday, with Sproat opening the series against the Miami Marlins on Friday. From there, Holmes and Manaea profiled as the logical option for Saturday. The Mets have used the combination as a tandem the last two turns through the rotation.

In theory, the Mets could still use Holmes and Manaea on Saturday, but it’d be asking a lot of them. Even though both pitchers tossed just one inning each (Holmes threw 14 pitches, Manaea threw 16), they had not pitched on such short rest or in such a way all season. Both pitchers appeared on Sunday.

The way Mets manager Carlos Mendoza probably saw it, he didn’t have many options left, considering he needed to use six relievers Tuesday, including Huascar Brazoban, one of the few length options, for 2 2/3 innings. The Mets decided against making a pitching transaction for a fresh arm ahead of Wednesday’s game.

If the Mets need to win Sunday, the final day of the regular season, they figure to use everyone available. At this rate, perhaps that applies to all the remaining games. — Sammon

(Photo of Francisco Alvarez trying to tag Michael Busch: Daniel Bartel / Getty Images)