"The rehearsals are over, and Aaron Cook believes he's ready to go back to center stage.

After pitching 7 2/3 innings Saturday night for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, the right-hander said he was making his pitches and doing what he wanted to do with the ball.

It was a final rehabilitation start for Cook, with the forecast calling for him to rejoin the Rockies' rotation this week. The winningest pitcher in Rockies history (69 victories) has been idle while recovering from a broken right ring finger.

"I made two bad pitches, and he crushed them," Cook said, referring to two solo home runs by Fresno second baseman Brett Pill. "If I'm getting groundball outs, I'm doing my thing."

Cook threw 99 pitches, 69 for strikes. He coaxed 13 groundball outs and threw first-pitch strikes to 21 of the 30 batters he faced."