ST. LOUIS -- Chicago Cubs starter Mark Prior said on Sunday he felt good after pitching five innings for Class A Peoria and will likely make at least one more Minor League rehab start before he is activated.

Prior gave up three hits and struck out five, throwing 59 pitches for Peoria in his second Minor League rehab start.

"I felt good. I did what I wanted to do," said Prior, who is rehabbing from a strained muscle in his right shoulder, which flared up in mid-March.

In his first start for Peoria, he threw 44 pitches over two innings. This outing was more efficient.

"I was working on different things," Prior said of his Saturday night outing. "I think I was making good pitches. I was getting in the counts I wanted to get to, except for two batters, and was able to work on things. I found my breaking ball. I threw some really good breaking balls in the third inning. I threw some good changeups. I was happy.

"One of the reasons it was efficient is that I was able to throw my off-speed pitches for strikes versus the other game when I was throwing mostly fastballs."

Prior said he had good life on his pitches and was able to do more. What's next?

"I don't know," he said before the Cubs' game on Sunday in St. Louis. "I have to sit down and talk with Larry [Rothschild, pitching coach] and see what their plans are. Definitely, yesterday was a good step, a big step, and I feel I'm getting where I want to be."

Prior did not expect to return to Peoria. Both Double-A West Tenn and Triple-A Iowa are home on June 8, with Iowa playing host to Round Rock and West Tenn entertaining Birmingham.

Facing Minor League hitters isn't the same as dealing with big-league batters, but the workouts are helpful.

"Setting [Minor League hitters up] is a little tougher," Prior said. "You don't have scouting reports and you know a little about guys based on watching their swings, but you don't know everything. It makes it tough because you're trying to work on things. They're geared up trying to get hits off of you. You try to rely on your catcher and pitching coach, and I thought Mark Reed did a great job calling the game."