Santana Has Poor Outing in Mets" Loss to the Cubs Justin Lane/European Pressphoto Agency The Mets' Johan Santana pitching in the first inning. Minutes after the start of the game, Santana tumbled clumsily onto the grass beside the mound while trying to field a grounder. It became fairly evident well before the sun began to set on Citi Field that this would not be Johan Santana's night. Minutes after the start of the game, after conceding a long, leadoff home run, Santana tumbled clumsily onto the grass beside the mound while trying to field a grounder. Later in the game, he stumbled awkwardly into the dirt near first base after tripping over the bag. The self-induced knocks might have been more digestible were it not for the ones produced by the Cubs. Santana, making his final start before the All-Star Game, gave up 13 hits and slunk off the field in the fifth inning of the Mets" 8-7 loss Friday. After the Mets wrapped up a satisfying series win against the Philadelphia Phillies, Manager Terry Collins cautioned his players about the possibility of a letdown against the lowly Cubs, who entered the game with a 31-51 record. After all, the Mets had gone to Chicago last week after a grueling weekend series against the Yankees in which they lost two of three games in embarrassing fashion. Collins's fear started on the mound. Santana had an inauspicious beginning, allowing a leadoff home run to Reed Johnson, who had entered the game 13-for-25 against Santana. Two batters later, Santana landed awkwardly while diving for Anthony Rizzo's infield hit, and his right arm seemed to twist unnaturally under his weight. He rested on one knee for a few moments before returning to the mound. Santana worked around a hard double by Johnson in the second, but he wavered again in the fourth, when he allowed two consecutive hits to open the inning and then gave up a sacrifice fly to Joe Mather. Santana then lost his way in the fifth. The inning began with a brief scare when Santana appeared to get his right foot caught on the side of first base, where he had sprinted to cover on Johnson's grounder. Santana's ankle turned awkwardly as he bobbled and dropped the toss, and to make matters worse, Johnson appeared to step on his foot as he ran through the bag. Santana tested the ankle on the mound, and though he was healthy enough to continue, he did not do so effectively. After Darwin Barney reached on a single to right, Rizzo belted the first pitch he saw into the sky, breaking the 2-2 deadlock with a gigantic three-run homer to right field. One out later, Jeff Baker smashed a high changeup into the left field stands, extending the Cubs" lead to 6-2. Santana was finally relieved after giving up a run-scoring single to Luis Valbuena. Santana's line - 7 earned runs, 13 hits, 3 homers - was his ugliest since he allowed six runs and four homers against the Yankees June 8. The hit total matched his career high, and his earned run average climbed to 3.24. His struggles came a night after R. A. Dickey allowed 11 hits to the Phillies. Last week, the pair allowed a combined six hits during their respective starts in Los Angeles. The Mets" offense was subdued by Travis Wood, who pitched seven scoreless innings to beat the Mets on June 25 in Chicago. He went six innings Friday, allowing three runs and five scattered hits. In the second, Lucas Duda crushed a belt-high fastball from Wood over the fence in right-center and into the visitors" bullpen. The home run, Duda's 12th and fourth against a left-hander, tied the score, 1-1. The Mets briefly went ahead, 2-1, in the third when Ronny Cedeno banged a double off the left field wall that scored Ruben Tejada easily from first base. But the complexion of the game was changed dramatically by the time they got their third run through Mike Nickeas's sacrifice fly in the sixth. The Cubs tacked on a run in the eighth, increasing their lead to 8-3, when Alfonso Soriano floated a run-scoring single to right field. Justin Turner, who had four hits, drove in a run for the Mets in the eighth. The Mets, who had a walk-off win Thursday after Jonathan Papelbon, showed life again in the ninth. Jordany Valdespin homered off Carlos Marmol with one out. Then three straight walks - to Tejada, Daniel Murphy and David Wright - loaded the bases with one out for Ike Davis, who smacked a two-run single to right field. Duda came up with the tying run on second, but he lined a ball back to the mound, where Marmol snatched the ball out of the air and fired to first for a game-ending double play.