Mets Look Lifeless Against the Cubs Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press The Mets" Andres Torres stealing second in front of the Cubs" Darwin Barney in the third inning. CHICAGO - The Mets players wandered ghostlike around the antique grounds. For a few drowsy hours, they flailed their bats about, floating baseballs harmlessly into the blustery air above Wrigley Field, bowling others softly through the stadium's checkered grass. They snapped their gloves at balls that eluded them like butterflies. The Mets came here looking for an easy series against the Chicago Cubs, who started the day in sixth place in the National League Central. Instead, they were ones who looked meek, falling, 6-1, for their third straight loss. "We were certainly a little flat," Manager Terry Collins said. Actually, there was a ready-made excuse for all this. Earlier in the day, as he leaned back in a chair inside a cramped office, Collins had offered his players a bit of a warning. He said he was "really concerned" about the team's energy levels after their weekend series against the Yankees. On top of that, the team was delayed for almost an hour at the airport after their Sunday night game and did not reach its hotel in Chicago until after 4 a.m. Central. Collins guessed the team was "gassed," and he was be right. The Mets made Travis Wood, a 25-year-old left-hander who has spent half the season in the minor leagues, look untouchable for seven innings. They managed just five hits off him - and six for the game - and got their only run when Ike Davis hit a solo homer against James Russell in the ninth. "He threw a ton of strikes," David Wright, who extended his hitting streak to 15 games, said of Wood. He was spotting the fastball, in and out. Their somnolent performance put to waste another satisfactory start from Johan Santana, who seems recalibrated after his two-game swoon following his no-hitter. This time, he pitched six solid innings, allowing two runs, five hits and three walks. He struck out six. Santana cruised at first, but one hearty swing in the fourth propelled the Cubs to a two-run lead. After getting two quick outs, Santana put Geovany Soto on base with a five-pitch walk. Then Joe Mather came up and smashed a 1-1 fastball delivered belt-high, sending the ball sailing over the wall in left-center field, a few rows above a marker placed 368 feet from home. "One little pitch, one little mistake, changed the whole ballgame," said Santana, who flew to Chicago several hours before his teammates. But there were plenty of mistakes after that, particularly in the seventh. With Jon Rauch taking over for Santana, Adrian Cardenas, who was pinch-hitting for Wood, sent a ball high into the air that Wright claimed as his own, then dropped, allowing Cardenas to cruise to third base. One out later, Darwin Barney popped a ball into shallow right field. This time, Lucas Duda dropped it, letting Cardenas score and Barney slide into third. Any chance to salvage the game seemed lost when the Mets" defense made a third error in the inning. With the infield playing on the grass, Starlin Castro bounced a grounder straight to Ronny Cedeno, who let the ball deflect off the webbing of his glove and into center field. Barney scored on the play, making it 4-0. Ramon Ramirez entered the game, and the Cubs scored two more runs, first on Geoff Baker's single through the right side of the infield and then on Soto's groundout to third. Collins was asked after the game whether he was angry about the defensive collapse or if he simply found it weird. "That'd be one way to describe it, weird," Collins said. I have another description for it. He was asked if he cared to share it. "Not really," Collins said. It's not appropriate. To be sure, it was the type of game that could keep a team up at night - probably not this team on this night, though. The Mets called up Justin Hampson, 32, from the minors, giving them a second left-hander in the bullpen to complement Tim Byrdak. Hampson pitched a scoreless eighth inning Monday. ... In the absence of Frank Francisco, who went to the disabled list Saturday, Bobby Parnell will be the Mets" full-time closer. ... Jason Bay, who sustained a concussion June 15, was cleared to begin physical activity. Terry Collins said Bay would start by riding a stationary bicycle.