Mark Prior is back on track, and the Chicago Cubs are rolling at exactly the right time.
Prior pitched six scoreless innings for his first win in more than a month, and the Cubs won their fourth straight by completing a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies with a 5-1 victory Thursday in Denver.
"It just goes to show you how strong our starting rotation is," said catcher Paul Bako, who had a two-run single. "We're just happy to have everybody healthy. He looked great. I think he's had great stuff since he's come back."
Prior missed the first two months of the season with right Achilles' tendinitis.
Derrek Lee and Corey Patterson each hit a solo home run for the Cubs, who moved a season-high 12 games over .500 (60-48) and swept Colorado at Coors Field for the first time. It was the Cubs' first sweep against the Rockies in Denver in 10 years — since they took three straight July 18-20, 1994, at Mile High Stadium.
"It's a tough feat to sweep them here," Chicago manager Dusty Baker said. "We got some key hits and played a great series . . . It starts at one (win) and then it goes from there. We've got to keep rolling."
Prior (3-2) got his first victory since beating the White Sox 7-4 on June 25, a span of six starts. Glendon Rusch pitched 2 1-3 solid innings for his first save. He allowed a two-out triple in the ninth by pinch-hitter Kit Pellow, who scored when Sammy Sosa bobbled the ball in right for an error.
Rusch even added a two-out RBI double in the ninth.
Lee connected for his 22nd homer against Jason Jennings (10-9) with two outs in the second. Patterson homered in the sixth, his 12th of the year.
The Cubs are surging, and now head to San Francisco for Baker's second trip back to the Bay Area to face his former team. Fans are already anticipating Saturday's pitching matchup: Greg Maddux goes for his 300th win against Giants ace Jason Schmidt, who's trying for career victory No. 100. The two are former teammates with the Atlanta Braves.
Baker has been emphasizing the importance of this stretch against other playoff contenders. Chicago, playing 12 straight games against the NL West, has won eight of 10 and improved to 13-8 since the All-Star break.
"I was looking forward to them coming to town. Now I'm looking forward to them leaving," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "Prior was able to make pitches when he had to. He broke a couple bats, he pitched away from the barrel, he pitched away from the middle of the plate."
Prior allowed six hits, struck out eight and walked two. He was done after throwing a season-high 108 pitches.
He didn't let a Colorado baserunner reach third until the sixth, when Todd Helton walked and advanced on Matt Holliday's single. But Prior then struck out Jeromy Burnitz swinging for the third straight time. Baker appreciated how Prior helped save the bullpen for the weekend.
Prior is 4-0 with a 1.29 ERA in four career starts against Colorado.
"I felt comfortable from the get-go," Prior said. "I made some pitches when I had to. I was more relaxed in pressure situations than I have been. I didn't try to press."
Jennings pitched well for much of the game, retiring eight straight during one stretch, but got into trouble in the seventh. The right-hander was tagged for four straight singles, including Bako's two-run single with the bases loaded that made it 4-0.
Jennings allowed four runs on seven hits in seven innings, struck out four and walked three. He had won his last two starts — both victories over Arizona when ace Randy Johnson started.
Nomar Garciaparra is 4-for-18 with three RBIs in his first four games with the Cubs after being traded from the Boston Red Sox on Saturday. But he made several nice plays at shortstop despite being clobbered a few times by the Rockies' aggressive baserunning.
The Rockies blew three-run leads in the first two games of the series, but struggled to get anything going offensively in the finale.
DODGERS 8, PIRATES 3: At Los Angeles, Milton Bradley hit two home runs, including one of three straight by Los Angeles in the first inning, and the Dodgers beat Pittsburgh to finish their first season sweep of any NL team since moving to the West Coast in 1958.
Reds 12, Giants 3: At San Francisco, Aaron Harang pitched seven innings of four-hit ball, and Sean Casey went 4-for-5 with four RBIs in Cincinnati's victory over slumping San Francisco.
METS 11, BREWERS 6: At Milwaukee, David Wright homered and drove in six runs, helping Victor Zambrano win his New York debut in a victory over Milwaukee. Wright, who entered with only four career RBIs, hit a three-run homer in the first inning and a three-run double in the fourth as the Mets completed a three-game sweep. The highly touted third baseman finished one short of the team record for RBIs by a rookie, set by Jeromy Burnitz on Aug. 5, 1993, against Montreal.
Milwaukee starter Victor Santos (9-7) lasted just 3 2/3 innings.
MARLINS 11, DIAMONDBACKS 5: At Phoenix, Carl Pavano pitched into the eighth inning on three days' rest and hit an RBI single, leading Florida past Arizona. Paul Lo Duca and Miguel Cabrera homered for the Marlins, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
CARDINALS 2, EXPOS 1: At St. Louis, Scott Rolen hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning, and Chris Carpenter (12-4) allowed one run and four hits in eight innings. Jim Edmonds also connected for the Cardinals, who have won 13 of 17 to move a season-high 31 games over .500. Jose Vidro had an RBI double for Montreal.
BRAVES 6, ASTROS 5: At Houston, pinch-hitter Marcus Giles' sacrifice fly drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth for Atlanta.
With the game tied at 5, J.D. Drew hit a leadoff single and Chipper Jones doubled off reliever Dan Miceli (4-6). After an intentional walk to Andruw Jones loaded the bases, Giles hit a lazy fly to right that scored Drew.
Eli Marrero hit a two-run homer and Julio Franco also drove in two runs for the Braves, who have won seven of their last eight and 11 of 13. Juan Cruz (4-0) pitched a perfect eighth for the win, and John Smoltz threw a scoreless ninth for his 27th save in 29 opportunities.
PHILLIES 5, PADRES 3, 10 INNINGS: At San Diego, David Bell hit a two-run single off Trevor Hoffman in the 10th inning to lead Philadelphia.
With two outs and the bases loaded, Bell singled to right field in front of a diving Brian Giles to score Jimmy Rollins and Placido Polanco. The win was the Phillies' third straight, and kept them 4 1/2 games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East.