Prior Is Sharp in Season Debut

Mark Prior gave the Chicago Cubs a glimpse of exactly what they’ve been missing. What he couldn’t do all by himself was get them a victory.

After two months on the disabled list, Prior’s season debut was a huge success. But even his sterling six-inning performance Friday couldn’t carry the Chicago Cubs to a victory at Wrigley Field.

“It felt good to be out there. I’m not going to lie. I had some anxiety going and probably a little nervousness going into it,” Prior said after yielding only two hits and getting a no-decision as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cubs, 2-1, to end a five-game losing streak.

Prior walked none, struck out eight and showed no signs of the Achilles’ tendon and elbow soreness that kept him out of the rotation.

Montreal 4, Cincinnati 2 -- Brad Wilkerson hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the seventh inning, rallying the Expos in front of 32,701 at Cincinnati. The Central Division-leading Reds had their biggest walk-up crowd since they started keeping track of the statistic in 1987. They sold 10,755 tickets when the gates opened.

St. Louis 5, Houston 3 -- Scott Rolen broke a fifth-inning tie with a two-run single, giving him a major league-leading 57 RBIs and sending the Cardinals past the Astros at St. Louis. The Cardinals have won five in a row and eight of nine to pull within a game of the Reds.

Philadelphia 9, Atlanta 1 -- Bobby Abreu and Mike Lieberthal homered to back seven strong innings by Eric Milton (7-1) at Atlanta, and the Phillies ended a four-game losing streak.

Florida 5, New York 1 -- Hee Seop Choi hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the sixth inning, and Carl Pavano (5-2) yielded six hits in 7 2/3 innings at Shea Stadium to help the Marlins end a four-game losing streak.

San Francisco 13, Colorado 7 -- At Coors Field, Barry Bonds hit his 673rd home run and Jason Schmidt won his seventh consecutive decision to lead the Giants.

Milwaukee 3, San Diego 1 -- Geoff Jenkins had two RBI doubles to lead the Brewers at Petco Park in San Diego.