The Rockies, however, got another glimpse of what could be with the continuing maturation of right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez on Sunday.

Oh, it wasn't an afternoon for celebration. The Rockies suffered a 5-3 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field that left the Rockies winless in the first seven games of a 10-game road trip that concludes with a visit to Los Angeles that begins Monday night.

Nobody has felt that anguish like Jimenez. He hasn't won since his April 8 victory against Atlanta. He is 0-5 in 10 starts since. He has seen the Rockies lose 11 of his 12 starts this season.

What the Rockies have seen, however, is an evolving quality pitcher in Jimenez. In the last month has shown an ability to limit damage, and on Sunday showed the grit to hang in for five solid innings after Ryan Theriot, the second batter in the game, lined a shot off Jimenez's left kneecap.

And he consistently shows the ability to win the showdown with the key hitters in an opposing lineup, only to be the victim of a surprise attack from someone else.

Against the Cubs, he had Kosuke Fukudome, the left-handed-hitting Japanese sensation, dodging strikes, swinging off-balance, and striking out all three times Jimenez faced him.

"I feel every time I have the confidence if I execute my pitches I am going to be successful against any hitter," said Jimenez, whose fastball will consistently run into the upper 90-mile-per-hour range. "It's a matter of me being consistent with what I need to do."

And when he's not consistent? Well, there's a Jim Edmonds, on the verge of being released before the Rockies showed up at Wrigley Field, waited to ruin Jimenez's day. Jimenez survived a one-out triple by Edmonds in the second. Edmonds, however, made Jimenez pay with an RBI-double in the two-run fourth that gave the Cubs a 3-2 lead, and then, after Jimenez struck out Fukudome and Geovany Soto with the bases loaded in the fifth, Edmonds drew a run-scoring walk.

"He probably made as good a sequence of pitches against (Fukudome) as he threw all day," manager Clint Hurdle said.

It was similar to that May 5 game against St. Louis when he struck out Albert Pujols with one out and a runner on third, but then, in the fourth inning, served up a two-out, two-run double to pitcher Joel Pineiro. And there was May 16 when he twice struck out Justin Morneau of Minnesota, including looking to end the third with two men on, but gave up a run-scoring single to No. 7 hitter Mike Lamb and sacrifice fly to No. 8 hitter Adam Everett. And just last Tuesday in Philadelphia, he struck out Chase Utley with runners on second and third, but gave up a two-run single to Greg Dobbs and two-run double to Pedro Feliz later in that same inning.

"He has had to learn a lot of things and he has taken a lot of positive steps that are going to pay dividends in the long run," said Hurdle.

CUBS 5, ROCKIES 3: The Rockies led in all four games at Chicago, but were swept for the 14th time in franchise history in a four-game series. They have now lost seven in a row, the longest losing streak of the season, all in the first seven games of a road trip that concludes with a three-game series at Dodger Stadium, beginning tonight. The Rockies have lost a franchise record 12 in a row on the road, and have lost 18 of their last 20 road games. Omar Quintanilla had a sacrifice fly on Sunday, giivng him five RBIs in the last three games. He had only two RBIs in the previous 22 games.