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CHICAGO (AP) -- The Colorado Rockies were happy to get one hit off Carlos Zambrano, let alone a pair of them.

Zambrano shut the Rockies down with a career-best two-hitter and the Chicago Cubs teed off on former teammate Shawn Estes for an 11-0 rout Friday.

Zambrano (3-1) was almost unhittable, retiring his first 14 batters and facing only two over the minimum.

"This kid is electric," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "He overpowered us today. There's no doubt about that. He had everything and threw everything where he wanted to throw it with velocity, with tilt, with sharpness.

"They threw us a beating, basically."

A month shy of his 23rd birthday and in only his second full season in the majors, Zambrano is the rawest talent in the Cubs' dazzling rotation. But make no mistake, he's got the potential to be as nasty as Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. He hasn't given up a run in his last two starts, allowing five hits and striking out 17 in 16 innings.

Getting some help Friday from a wind that was gusting in at up to 22 mph, Zambrano walked none and struck out five in his second career shutout. He allowed four baserunners the entire afternoon and needed only 97 pitches.

"I felt good today," said Zambrano, who lowered his ERA to 2.18, the best of the Cubs starters. "I tried to let them put the ball in play, and that's what happened."

That doesn't begin to describe how tough Zambrano was, though. The Rockies only got four balls out of the infield. They didn't have a hit until Matt Holliday's two-out single between short and third in the fifth inning.

Luis Gonzalez reached on shortstop Ramon Martinez's error in the sixth inning, but was doubled off one batter later. Zambrano then retired seven straight before hitting Gonzalez in the ninth. He gave up his second hit to Aaron Miles, but ended the game with a double play.

Zambrano's previous low-hit game was a three-hitter against Arizona last August.

"He could have easily gone out there and not given up a hit today. He had that kind of stuff," Estes said. "Hats off to him. He pitched a great game. One run would've been too many today."

And the Cubs gave him way more than that, with Corey Patterson driving in four runs and Sammy Sosa and Ramon Martinez each getting two hits and two RBI.

Estes (4-2) gave up a season-high nine runs and seven hits in 2 2-3 innings, walking five while hitting one.

"He didn't give himself a chance," Hurdle said. "He didn't give us a chance."

A frequent target of the boo birds at Wrigley because of his 8-11 record and 5.73 ERA last year, Estes seemed to have found a groove with the Rockies. He won the opening day starter's job after going to spring training as a non-roster invitee, and returned to Wrigley with a 4-1 record.

But it didn't take long for Estes to return to his old ways. He walked his first two batters in the second, then loaded the bases with two outs when he hit Todd Walker above the elbow. The Cubs then capitalized when Jeromy Burnitz had a scary collision with a wall.

Burnitz was looking over his shoulder as he chased Corey Patterson's fly back to the wall in left-center, and he slammed face-first at full speed into a set of metal doors. Burnitz had caught the ball a half-step before hitting the wall, but it popped free when he instinctively put his hands up to brace himself.

Burnitz fell to ground and didn't seem to realize he'd dropped the ball, looking at his empty glove with surprise when he got up.

"I caught it," he said. "I just hit the wall and knocked it loose."

By the time Holliday ran over from left and found the ball, Michael Barrett, Martinez and Walker had scored on the double to give the Cubs a 4-0 lead.

"That was a big play for him even getting to the ball," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "I'm just glad he didn't get hurt."

Estes got in more trouble in the third when he walked Walker to load the bases with only one out. The Cubs made it 9-0 before Estes was finally relieved by Turk Wendell.

"When Zambrano gets that kind of support, he's exceptionally tough," Baker said. "He was masterful today. He had no-hit stuff."

Game notes

Zambrano's other shutout was last Aug. 12, against Houston. ... INF Damian Jackson, recalled from Triple-A Iowa on Friday morning, made his Cubs debut when he replaced 2B Walker in the top of the seventh. ... The Cubs won back-to-back games for the first time since April 24-25. ... The Cubs scored their first run in the second on C Charles Johnson's errant pickoff throw.