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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. Black Ravens Jerseys . The mixed zone is not a place to make friends. Ravens Jerseys Pro Shop . Halladay signed a one-day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday that allowed the veteran right-hander to retire as a member of team with which he broke into the majors and spent the bulk of his distinguished 16-year career. http://www.cheapravensjerseyselite.com/ .S. -- Nikolaj Ehlers registered a hat trick for the third straight game and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and five assists as the Halifax Mooseheads hammered the host Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 10-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Cheap Ravens Jerseys China . PAUL, Minn. Throwback Ravens Jerseys . Once again, DeLaet finished tied for second at a PGA Tour stop on the weekend, this time at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The pride of Weyburn, Sask. CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Panthers coach Ron Rivera said the NFL needs to consider all possibilities when clamping down on targeting, including player ejections.The NCAA currently enforces that rule, but the NFL does not.The biggest thing were trying to do is lower the target, Rivera said Wednesday. Maybe if we as a league look at that, and say we really do want to eliminate that, maybe the penalty has to be a little stiffer. Maybe getting guys to understand if you do this -- kind of like what happened in the college game -- eject the player.And if they eject you late in the game, you dont get to play the next game. It seems to help. Id like to believe it would help. If we do something to motivate guys to lower their targets, maybe itll help.Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has been on the receiving end of several questionable hits this season, but no players have been ejected. He took two more helmet-to-helmet hits against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, but no flags were thrown.Hes getting shots -- taking them high, low and theres no flags, Panthers fullback Mike Tolbert said. . ... Its the NFLs job to protect him. They preach player safety and stuff like this happens two orr three weeks in a row.dddddddddddd.Player ejections have become fairly commonplace in college.In last weeks game between South Carolina and Missouri one player from each team was ejected for targeting the quarterback. A third hit was flagged for targeting, but then the play was overturned.Rivera wouldnt go as far as to say he would vote for such a dramatic change, but said all avenues most be considered next offseason.Rivera said he would like to see the NFL better enforce a strike zone on where to hit -- above the knee and below the neck.Now you know where youre allowed to hit a guy, especially a guy that is in a prone position standing there getting ready to throw the football, Rivera said. Thats a pretty nasty position to be in.Rivera balked when asked if hes concerned all of the hits to the head have taken away from Newtons longevity in the NFL.Thats an unfair question to ask, just so you know, Rivera said. But I am very concerned, not just for him but any football player.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '