, thumping his chest with pride, showed just how intense

DENVER -- The Chicago Cubs future looks bright even if their present is a little disappointing. Rookie Javier Baez hit two more homers and drove in four runs, leading Kyle Hendricks and the Cubs to a 6-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Thursday. The 21-year-old Baez also had an RBI single in his third major league game. The touted prospect homered in his debut Tuesday, hitting a game-deciding shot in the 12th inning on the day he was promoted from the minors. "It didnt surprise me too much," said Hendricks, who had the best outing of his short career. "Ive seen it for a couple of years and he always thrives on the big stage. Whenever we play in a big game he does well." The Cubs (49-64) closed out a six-game trip by taking two of three in the series between last-place teams. Baez led off the sixth inning with a shot down the left-field line against Yohan Flande (0-4). He hit a two-run shot off Juan Nicasio into the Colorado bullpen in right in the eighth. "I was letting the fastball get deep and he threw me a slider," Baez said of his second drive. "I hit it really good." Castro followed Baezs shot in the sixth with his 12th home run. It was the fourth time this season Chicago has hit back-to-back homers. Hendricks (3-1) pitched a career-high eight innings after the start of the game was delayed 39 minutes because of rain. The rookie right-hander has pitched into the seventh inning in four of his five career starts. "Hes a very poised young man and hes the type of kid when he prepares for the test he knows hes going to do well," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "I hope hes making believers out of a lot of people." The 24-year-old Hendricks was sharp against the Rockies, allowing just two runs and six hits. He didnt allow a runner until Charlie Blackmons leadoff single in the fourth. After Baez and Castro gave Hendricks a three-run cushion in the sixth, the Rockies scored on Corey Dickersons RBI single in the bottom half. Hendricks retired the last seven batters he faced. "I felt really good," he said. "Usually as the game goes on I get stronger and stronger." Justin Morneau and Wilin Rosario had two hits each for the Rockies (45-69), who have lost six of seven. The Cubs took a 2-0 lead against Flande with RBI singles by Arsmendy Alcantara in the second and Baez in the third. Colorado cut the lead in half on Morneaus RBI single in the fourth. Flande is still looking for his first career win despite two solid starts against Chicago. He struck out a career-high eight in a 4-1 loss to the Cubs on July 28 and lasted six innings Thursday. "I pitched was well as I could. Something always happens to me in the late innings," Flande said. "Im disappointed." ALMOST COMPLETE Hendricks was thinking after seven innings he had a chance for his first complete game. Two batters into the eighth he knew it wasnt going to happen. "I went into the eighth at around 91 (pitches) and after I went full count on the first two hitters that kind of went out the window," he said. "I was trying to get quick outs but I was almost aiming it in there so I could go out for the ninth." TRAINERS ROOM Cubs: First baseman Anthony Rizzo was given a rare day off with the left-hander Flande on the mound. It was just the second day off for Rizzo, who is second in the NL with 25 home runs. Rockies: Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (left hip flexor strain) has begun baseball activities and will travel to Arizona and San Diego with the team. Tulowitzki is eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list but hasnt been running at full speed. Manager Walt Weiss said that will be the final hurdle for the major league batting leader. ON DECK Cubs: Left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada (1-1, 3.32 ERA), like Hendricks on Thursday, is making his fifth career big league start when he faces Tampa Bay on Friday. He has held opponents to a .259 average in his first four starts. Rockies: Lefty Tyler Matzek (2-6, 5.31 ERA) will try to rebound from a rough outing in Detroit last weekend when he faces Arizona on Friday. Matzek is one of four Colorado starters to make his major league debut this year, and he has been impressive at times. His outing against the Tigers was the only start in which he failed to go at least five innings. Air Jordan NZ Online . The club says Fridays surgery was successful. Holiday, a former Eastern Conference All-Star acquired from Philadelphia last summer, has not played because of the shin injury since Jan. Air Jordan Retro Clearance . The unrestricted free agent agreed to terms with the club on Thursday on a one-year, two-way deal worth $700,000. http://www.nzairjordan.com/ .ca/CurlingSkins - with the Top 16 curlers earning a ticket to Banff, Alta. to compete in the TRAVELERS ALL-STAR CURLING SKINS GAME Presented by Pintys, running Jan. Cheap Air Jordans NZ . Power had a two-lap average of 218.896 mph in qualifying Friday at the high-banked, high-speed 1 1/2-mile track for his 34th career pole. Air Jordan Clearance Sale .com) - Marian Gaborik scored his sixth goal in the last four games to help the Los Angeles Kings top the Arizona Coyotes, 4-2, Saturday at Staples Center.WINNIPEG -- It took two tries but the Nashville Predators finally got the power-play goal they needed. Mike Fisher scored 42 seconds into the third period moments after another goal was waved off for goalie interference. Fishers goal proved to be the winner as Nashville held on for a 4-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday. "We werent sure about the call but we knew we had enough time to get another one," said Fisher. "It was a similar play, just puck to the net, rebound and we were in the right spots." Both Central Division teams are desperate for points as they head into the Olympic break well short of what they need to make the playoffs. "We know we need to go on a tear to get back in it," said Fisher. "Its not going to be easy. We know there are a lot of teams right with us. . . . Thats what makes these games exciting. It felt a little bit more like playoffs tonight." The Jets (25-25-5) started the game a point ahead of Nashville (24-23-8) and finished it a point behind. It was disappointing for a team that has been flying high since new coach Paul Maurice took over. Even with the loss they have won six of their last eight, including wins over Chicago and Anaheim in their own buildings. "We were in the box maybe a little more than wed want to be," said Jets forward Blake Wheeler, who scored his NHL career-high 22nd goal. "It would have been nice to start the third 5-on-5 . . . From there we were looking at an uphill battle." Maurice wasnt happy about the penalty Devin Setoguchi took at the end of the second period that set up the power-play goal at the start of the third, but said the issue was addressed and Setoguchi was aggressive in the remainder of the third period as the Jets tried to generate offence. "The team gets one opportunity to learn from the mistake and then you expect a response like that, an understanding, a responsibility and respect for his teammates to do everything possible to get it back." Overall, though, Maurice said the team played hard. "Its just such a hard grinding game and it was a battle all the way through . . . you could see it in their faces coming to the bench, they gave it everything they have.dddddddddddd" Seth Jones, Roman Josi and Nick Spaling also scored for Nashville. Chris Thorburn and Mark Scheifele had the other goals for the Jets. On the downside, Nashville doesnt know yet how long they might be without the services of captain Shea Weber, who left the game with what was described as an upper-body injury. But coach Barry Trotz said it was encouraging to see the way the team rallied in the third period without him. "It gives a lot of the young guys some confidence. . . Its great for the learning curve," he said. Jones got things started with a perfect wraparound at 3:48 that slipped by Ondrej Pavelec but Thorburn tipped in his first goal of the season off the faceoff for the Jets just 22 seconds later. Josi put the Predators ahead 2-1 just 42 seconds into the second period on a slick one-two-three combo from Craig Smith and David Legwand. Winnipeg struggled at times to get the puck out of their own zone in the second period. They had a couple of legitimate scoring chances but the closest they came was a post on a long hard shot from Zach Bogosian. Instead, it was Spaling who snapped one in at 17:18 to put Nashville up 3-1. But the Jets made up for their early period struggles with two goals in just 27 seconds. The first was Scheifeles shot into the crowd in front of Nashville goalie Carter Hutton that bounced in off his one of his own defencemen and it was capped with Wheelers career-high 22nd of the season at the 18:40 mark. Notes: Forward Evander Kane was out of the Jets lineup again Tuesday with an infection in the hand he injured a fight with Tampa Bays Eric Brewer on Jan. 7. Kane initially missed four games but returned Jan. 21 to score a goal and three assists in the next four games. Now he isnt expected to return until after the Olympic break. ... For the pre-game skate the Jets all wore No. 11 jerseys to mark Bell Lets Talk Day and honour Rick Rypien, who signed with the team in 2011 but committed suicide at the age of 27 before reporting and wearing the number he had been assigned. He had a long history of clinical depression. ' ' '