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CHICAGO (AP) -- Take away August, and Javier Vazquez is having a pretty good season. Vazquez matched a season high with 10 strikeouts and helped himself with an RBI single Tuesday night, snapping a seven-game losing streak and leading the Montreal Expos to a 6-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs. "It was a good pick-me-up for the ballclub and for him,'' Expos manager Frank Robinson said. "It was very comfortable out there. Before, he didn't seem sure of himself.'' Brad Wilkerson tied a Montreal rookie record with his 19th home run, and Jose Vidro and Fernando Tatis added RBI singles. Andre Dawson (1977) and Larry Walker (1990) also hit 19 homers in their rookie seasons with Montreal. "It's an honor to be mentioned with those two guys,'' Wilkerson said. Mark Bellhorn hit a solo home run, but the Cubs offense sputtered again as they lost for the fourth time in five games. Chicago managed only two hits over the last five innings. Carlos Zambrano (3-7) got knocked around, giving up five runs and seven hits. He needed 112 pitches to get through 4 2/3 innings. "I don't know what happened today with my pitches,'' Zambrano said. "It was a new experience for me. I have to be more in control next time.'' Vazquez (9-13) began the month of August with an 8-6 record. But he lost to the Astros on Aug. 4, and the month got worse from there. He lost seven straight starts, giving up three or more earned runs in all but one of them. "I don't see this season as a bad season, just a bad month where I was pitching well but didn't get any breaks,'' he said. "Apart from the last month, I've done a good job.'' He was certainly good enough against the Cubs, scattering two runs and six hits over seven innings. After giving up an RBI double to Fred McGriff in the third, he retired nine of his next 10 batters. He got in a little trouble in the seventh, giving up a single to Todd Hundley and walking Hee Seop Choi. But Vazquez retired Bobby Hill on a line drive and struck out Bellhorn and Sammy Sosa. Sosa went 1-for-4 with three strikeouts. He has six hits in his last 34 at-bats. "Vazquez had a very good effort, it was even all the way,'' Robinson said. "He was pitching to keep them from scoring.'' The Expos battered Zambrano with a three-run fifth. Vazquez started it, drawing a leadoff walk. He took second on a sacrifice and scored on Vidro's single. Vidro advanced to third on Vladimir Guerrero's single, scoring when Hundley couldn't hold a pitch in the dirt. Guerrero got all the way to third on the passed ball. Matt Cepicky walked, and Tatis singled to make it 5-2. "I'm really mad about the walks in the fifth inning,'' Zambrano said. "You can't make a mistake on this level, because that's a chance for the other team.''

Game notes

Vazquez's victory was the 50th of his career. ... The game was delayed about three minutes in the fifth inning when Cubs reliever Pat Mahomes had to go in and take off a white shirt underneath his blue jersey. ... Cubs SS Alex Gonzalez was charged with a two-base error in the first inning. ... Wilkerson leads NL rookies in homers, multihit games (37), runs (84) and hits (125).