DENVER -- Todd Helton has conceded some things to age. He knows he still has a lot of baseball left in his near 40-year-old body. The Colorado Rockies first baseman takes more days off but when hes in the lineup he wants to contribute. He did just that Saturday, getting three hits and reaching base four times to help lead the Rockies past the Chicago Cubs 9-3. Carlos Gonzalez homered and Troy Tulowitzki, Dexter Fowler and Wilin Rosario had two hits each for a Colorado offence that had scored eight runs in its previous five games. Luis Valbuena homered and had two RBIs for the Cubs. The younger players are getting more attention now but Helton showed he can still hit. He held a .320 career average coming into the season but he was hitting 65 points below that entering Saturday. He is showing signs of his old self of late with 10 hits in his last 20 at-bats. The 2000 NL batting champion hopes his work in the cage will pay off in what is likely his last season. "It feels good. I feel good at the plate, I feel comfortable, I feel in control," said Helton, who turns 40 in a month. "It doesnt always translate into success. Ive tinkered and messed with it and hopefully it works. Hopefully I found something and I can ride it for a while." Heltons 191st career three-hit game helped the Rockies break out of their slump, at least for one night. They were held to a single run by Jeff Samardzija on Friday night but found their rhythm against Cubs starter Carlos Villanueva for the second time this season. "Its a team that has given me trouble throughout my career for some reason," Villanueva said. "I dont really look that much into it but today it was strange. I didnt really feel like myself out there." The Rockies offence woke up in the bottom of the fourth. Helton started it with a one-out single and scored on a groundout. Juan Nicasio walked to put runners on the corners and Fowler followed with a two-run triple to make it 3-1. "That was a big hit by Dex," manager Walt Weiss said. "I have a lot of confidence in our offence. I know weve struggled but its a good offensive club and I stick by that." Cubs manager Dale Sveum said the walk to Nicasio was the key to the Rockies fourth inning. "That kind of changed the game around, walking him on a 3-2 slider," he said. "Then throwing Fowler a 3-2 fastball. It was a little backwards." Colorado blew it open in the fifth. Gonzalez led off with his NL-leading 26th home run into the second deck above the Rockies bullpen, and three straight singles made it 5-1 and chased Villanueva. "That was a good swing," Gonzalez said of his 433-foot homer. "As soon as I hit the ball I knew it was out of the ballpark. I didnt know where it was going to land but I knew I hit it pretty far." Michael Bowden came on and surrendered an RBI single to Rosario. Charlie Blackmon walked and Fowler hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Helton to make it 7-1. Helton scored twice and is now needs 26 hits before the end of the season to reach 2,500 for his career. "When hes healthy hes going to give you good at-bats," Weiss said. Villanueva (2-6) allowed seven runs on nine hits in four-plus innings. He is winless in his last eight starts and his last victory came in relief against Seattle on June 29. Nicasio (6-4) allowed one run on three hits in five innings, striking out three and walking two to get his second straight win since being recalled from Triple-A on July 12. He beat Clayton Kershaw last week. A warm night turned blustery as wind speeds reached 35 mph in the fourth inning. A strong gust coming in from right field helped keep Nate Schierholtzs drive to the wall from going out in the top of the frame, and food wrappers and plastic bags from the stands littered the field in the bottom of the inning. "It seemed like it got caught in a little jet stream there, no doubt about it," Sveum said of Schierholtzs out. The wind wasnt strong enough to hold Valbuenas drive in the third. He crushed a 92 mph fastball into the Rockies bullpen to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead. It was his ninth homer of the season. The Cubs got within 7-3 with single runs in the sixth and seventh, but Tulowitzki added to Colorados cushion with a two-run double in the eighth. NOTES: The Rockies placed RHP Rafael Betancourt (appendectomy) on the 15-day DL and recalled RHP Mitchell Boggs from Double-A Tulsa. ... Heltons double was the 578th of his career and ties him with Wade Boggs for 18th on the career list. ... Cubs rookie Junior Lake followed Fridays 3-for-4 debut with a single and a walk Saturday. ... The Rockies will send RHP Tyler Chatwood (5-3) against Chicagos Edwin Jackson (6-10) in Sundays series finale. Cordy Glenn Jersey . JOHNS, N. Colton Schmidt Jersey . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months. http://www.officialauthenticbillsshop.com/authentic-dion-dawkins-jersey.html . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. Patrick DiMarco Jersey . -- Jimmy Walkers first PGA Tour trophy came with a special gift tucked inside. Andre Holmes Jersey .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. With two games left in its season, Army is staring at a rare opportunity. Despite two straight losses, the Black Knights still have a slim chance to play in a bowl game for only the second time since 1996.Theres an opportunity out there if we can get a victory this Saturday, coach Jeff Monken said. Weve got to get one this weekend if were going to have any hope.Army (5-5) hosts FCS foe Morgan State (2-7) on Senior Day at Michie Stadium, a special moment for a class thats helped the program move forward in three seasons under Monken.I, as the head coach, have leaned on those guys for leadership in the locker room, and to build the culture that it takes to win, Monken said. Im confident that culture is being built and we are headed in the right direction.Army allowed a season-high 44 points in a loss to Notre Dame last week in San Antonio at The Alamodome. The triple option stalled, held to only 229 yards, but the Black Knights remain second in the nation in rushing with an average of 311 yards per contest.The loss followed a 31-12 setback at home the previous week against service academy rival Air Force . The triple option was held to a season-low 144 yards on 40 carries in that game.The third try to reach six wins comes against a struggling Morgan State team thats near the bottom of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Bears have lost five straight.The big thing for us is weve got to clean up our own mistakes, MSU interim head coach Fred Farrier said. Were just making too many mistakes at critical points.That was never more apparent than in last weeks 22-21 loss at Florida A&M. Morgan State led 21-9 after Chris Andrews scored on a four-yard run late in the third quarter. Then Andrews lost a fumble early in the fourth quarter that FAMU converted into a touchdown, the Bears never got their offense going again, and the game slipped away. Alex Raya also missed field goals of 36 and 35 yards for MSU.Its another one of those situations where youre shooting yourself in the foot, Farrier said.Other things to know when Army hossts Morgan State on Senior Day at Michie Stadium:PRESSURE TIME: The Black Knights need a win to remain in the bowl discussion.dddddddddddd Armys victory over FCS foe Lafayette a month ago does not count toward bowl eligibility victories. Just like a year ago, some of the 80 bowl slots available likely will be filled with five-win teams. Those teams are selected according to their latest Academic Progress Rate, and Army sits fourth on that list, behind Duke, Northwestern, and Vanderbilt. A year ago, three five-win teams played in a bowl game.ROAD WOES: Morgan State has yet to win on the road this season. The Bears also lost 62-0 at Marshall, 22-12 at Hampton, and 27-14 at Norfolk State. MSUs last win away from Hughes Stadium was on Oct. 3, 2015, when the Bears beat Delaware State 26-6 in Dover.RED ZONE SPUTTERS: Morgan State has scored just 16 times in 28 trips inside its opponents 20-yard line to rank last in the MEAC. Twelve of the 16 scores have been TDs, and the Bears also have had four turnovers (three fumbles and an interception) and have converted only four of 10 field goals in the red zone.ROOKIE TIME: Freshman QB DeAndre Harris is expected to start for MSU. Harris also started last week and completed just two of six passes for 12 yards and threw one interception before being replaced by Andrews in the second quarter. The Bears managed only 11 first downs in the game.SENIOR SWAN SONG: Linebackers Andrew King and Jeremy Timpf lead a contingent of 17 seniors who will play their final game at Michie Stadium. Monken marvels at the contributions of what he considers a special class.This group of guys is what you hope for when you talk about leaders, Monken said. They lead by example. They have a great attitude. They believe theyre the guys that turned it around.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25---Follow Kekis at www.twitter.com/Greek1947 Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '
