Not a game to mention on the free-agent resume if you’re Luis Ayala, but for the Mets this was a special win.

No joke, Jerry Manuel looked exhausted afterward, just emotionally drained. I described him in tomorrow’s story as someone who looked like a balloon that had been popped with a needed. He was deflated, even in victory.

Carlos Beltran’s grand slam was pivotal. Not only is he now 9 for 21 since last Sunday with three home runs, he also lifted the Mets in a game they seemed uninterested in winning. “That’s a big win for us because we appeared lethargic,” Manuel said. “We didn’t appear in a fighting mood.”

As I told you earlier, the team had an eye on the Phils vs. Cubs. Beltran reference it as he talked about the importance of the win.

“I was happy because of the situation we’re in right now,” Beltran said. “The Phillies lost today. These are the teams we really need to beat — the Marlins, the Philadelphia Phillies — for us to move on.”

Tough night for David Wright, but he had an important single in the ninth. I bet you’ll here more on Wright’s struggles tomorrow, although maybe this will awaken him from the slump.

Luis Ayala said his right leg bothered him in the ninth. Manuel told us he didn’t have any legit options (Nelson Figueroa and Pedro Feliciano vs. a bevy of righties wouldn’t have cut it). Heilman was out for another night. Even though you were probably screaming at the TV after Jorge Cantu toyed with Ayala, Manuel stuck with him.

As I said before, he has no idea who will close tomorrow.

The last thing is about Daniel Murphy. He saved the day when Cantu doubled down the left field line with two outs. Alfredo Amezega would’ve scored had Murphy, who told us he slipped where the rubber warning track met the grass, not hurried the ball in.

Big play by the rookie at a big time.

“That’ll probably go unnoticed, but that may’ve saved us,” Manuel said.