CHICAGO - If the Cubs can look this good with only a few hours of sleep, imagine the possibilities when they're well-rested.
Taking the field about 14 hours after arriving home from the West Coast, the Cubs picked on one of the league's best pitchers for a 7-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Friday afternoon. Mark Bellhorn went 2-for-2 with three RBIs and Sammy Sosa, Ramon Martinez and Shawn Estes drove in runs.
"We came out and got the hits we needed against a pretty good pitcher," said Estes, who showed no signs of the back pain that has been troubling him in winning for the first time since April 15.
"That says a lot about our team because I know guys didn't get much sleep."
The Cubs had an afternoon game in San Francisco on Thursday and didn't get back to Chicago until after well after midnight. Though manager Dusty Baker told them they could sleep in, most players were at the clubhouse early.
Carrying large cups of coffee and not saying much, but there early nonetheless.
"Nobody was dragging, nobody was tired," said Joe Borowski, who got the last four outs for his fifth save in as many chances. "Everybody was ready to go."
Estes had a bad back when he got rocked by Colorado last weekend, and there was some question if he'd make this start. But he breezed, taking a shutout into the sixth before giving up a run-scoring single to Todd Helton.
He got into trouble in the eighth as the Rockies scored three and had runners at the corners, but the bullpen bailed him out.
Estes gave up four runs, three earned, and 10 hits in 71/3 innings.
"He stayed aggressive," Colorado catcher Charles Johnson said of the difference in Estes. "He got them deep in the game. He got them out of some big jams. That's the name of the ballgame."
The Cubs reached Shawn Chacon for six runs and eight hits in five innings, his shortest outing of the season.
CARDINALS 8, EXPOS 1: Jim Edmonds' homer highlighted a five-run first, and Jason Simontacchi pitched eight sharp innings for host St. Louis.
Fernando Vina homered and went 3-for-3 for the Cardinals, who extended their winning streak to a season-best five games. Mike Matheny also homered and drove in three, and Edmonds had three hits.
The Cardinals have outscored the opposition 14-1 in the first inning during the first four games of a six-game homestand. Despite going down in order Thursday, they are 15-for-27 with three homers and seven doubles in the first inning of their past four games.
ASTROS 4, MARLINS 3: Pinch-hitter Jose Vizcaino singled home the go-ahead run in the sixth as host Houston overcame a three-run deficit.
Florida built a 3-0 lead against Scott Linebrink on second-inning home runs by Juan Encarnacion and Alex Gonzalez and consecutive doubles by Luis Castillo and Ivan Rodriguez in the third, but the Astros allowed two more hits and came back to stop a three-game losing streak.
Ricky Stone followed Linebrink with a one-hit sixth, and Bruce Chen, Brandon Puffer, Brad Lidge and Billy Wagner finished with hitless relief.
METS 9, BREWERS 3: Tom Glavine pitched seven strong innings, Cliff Floyd hit a two-run homer and New York ended a five-game losing streak.
Glavine benefited from a 15-hit outburst and three unearned runs in handing Milwaukee its sixth straight loss and ninth in 10 games. Milwaukee is a league-worst 9-20, 4-10 at home.
PADRES 5, PHILLIES 4 (10): Kevin Millwood's bid for consecutive no-hitters ended on his first pitch, and Sean Burroughs drove in the winning run.
Host San Diego loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the 10th against Jose Mesa, and Burroughs singled past diving first baseman Jim Thome to snap the Padres' five-game losing skid.
PIRATES 5, DODGERS 3: Jason Kendall hit a tiebreaking run-scoring single in the seventh, and visiting Pittsburgh converted three errors into four unearned runs.
Los Angeles, which had allowed just two unearned runs through its first 29 games, had trouble making the plays in steady rain.
