LOS ANGELES -- Having celebrated his 40th birthday on Friday, Greg Maddux wanted to make a point that he's still King of the Hill, not over it. Not that he admitted to any special significance in his first start as a 40-year-old.

"Age is just a number," said Maddux. "I heard Julio Franco say it a million times. I used to laugh at him, but now I know what he means."

Staked to a one-run lead on Todd Walker's first-inning home run, the 100th of his career, off Dodgers starter Brett Tomko, Maddux had the Dodgers feeling like they were facing the 28-year old Cy Young Award winner of 1994 in the Cubs' 4-1 win in the series opener. The three wins in his first three games is his best start since 1994.

Asked if he could compare his pitching to back then, his simple response, "Nope, don't remember that far back," said more about his focus on 2006, than his memory of seasons long gone.

Like old times, Maddux made easy work of the Dodgers lineup, retiring the first nine batters he faced and letting his infielders do most of the work. After shortstop Rafael Furcal broke through with a single up the middle to lead off the fourth and moved to second on a sacrifce bunt by center fielder Kenny Lofton, Maddux reached into his bag for another old trick, spinning and throwing to his shortstop, Ronny Cedeno, and catching Furcal in a rundown as he attempted to steal third.

"That was all Larry," Maddux said referring to pitching coach Larry Rothschild. "Larry told me to put that on. Good for him."

The Cubs expanded their lead in the fifth inning as the veteran was in the center of that, too. Left fielder Matt Murton led off the inning with a walk and went to third on Cedeno's single, bringing Maddux to the plate with runners on the corners. While chicks might dig the long ball, Maddux did just enough, dropping a pop fly behind second baseman Oscar Robles, scoring Murton.

"I had a cheap hit, imagine that," was Maddux's thought about driving in what turned out to be the winning run.

After Maddux's "cheap hit," Juan Pierre reached on a bunt single up the third-base line, with Cedeno scoring as third baseman Bill Mueller's throw sailed wide of first. A sacrifice fly by Walker, scoring Maddux, made it 4-0.

The Dodgers finally marred Maddux's night in the bottom of the fifth when right fielder J.D. Drew started off the inning with a single, and after first baseman Olmedo Saenz drove Pierre to the wall with a long out, Mueller doubled into the left-field corner, and Drew raced home ahead of the relay. Maddux then stranded Mueller at second, striking out Robles and getting catcher Dioner Navarro to hit into a groundout.

The rest of the game was classic Maddux as he retired the side in order in the sixth, seventh and eighth. Neat and economical, as Maddux needed just 86 pitches, 58 of them strikes, before giving way to Ryan Dempster, who came in and closed it out for the Cubs.

Even the decision to let Dempster finish the game was Maddux's.

"I was pretty done. I've got 30 more starts. Let Demps come in and do his job."

"Age is just a number. I heard Julio Franco say it a million times. I used to laugh at him, but now I know what he means."

-- Greg Maddux

Manager Dusty Baker summed it up the best, in a way that's probably been said about 321 times now about Maddux: "He was masterful."

According to Baker, it's not about how hard you throw, commenting on Maddux's top speed of about 84 mph, but it's about control.

"The main thing is strike one," Baker said, "You get strike one and you can do a lot of things. The name of the game is control, and he was great."

"He's dirty," said former Atlanta teammate Odalis Perez. "The guy is great. He's throwing 83 mph and you can't hit him. It's really unbelieveable. What a pitcher. What an athlete."

So what's the secret to his continued success? If you ask Maddux, he'll try to pass it off as luck and timing.

"There were balls they hit that I thought would have been out in Wrigley but are [at the] warning track here," he explained. "And the balls they hit hard, were hit right at people."

Even thoughts that he worked out harder this offseason as an acknowledgement of his age were quickly dashed.

"I didn't do anything special. It's how you pitch, not how you work out."

Whatever it is that keeps this 40-year-old pitching consistently, at a level that younger men dream of reaching just occasionally, the Cubs just hope that it stays around all season.

That Old Man River, he just keeps rolling, just keeps rolling along.