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Estes effective as Padres edge Cubs

May 14, 2008 - 4:10 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Shawn Estes finally reached the winner's column after nearly three years.

Estes pitched 5 1/3 solid innings as the San Diego Padres rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.

Jody Gerut hit the go-ahead RBI double in the fourth inning and Khalil Greene belted a three-run homer for San Diego, which has won three of four.

"At that point in the game, it was a pretty big hit for us," Greene said of his homer. "It really helped us get back into the game. But you can't overlook the job Shawn did. He did a nice job for us."

The Padres, who also snapped a five-game road losing streak, saw Estes notch his first victory since beating the Colorado Rockies on September 9, 2005.

"It's a very emotional night," Estes said. "It's been two years since I started a major-league game. I just went out there and battled. Winning this game and helping this team means a lot to me."

This was Estes' (1-0) first start since April 5, 2006, when the 13-year veteran dropped a 3-1 decision to the San Francisco Giants before having elbow reconstruction surgery two months later, forcing him to miss the entire 2007 season.

"There was a lot of frustration trying to get back," Estes said. "I had a lot of pain, even in spring training. So I hope I turned the corner."

Against Chicago, the lefthander allowed three runs - two earned - and seven hits along with a walk in his second appearance since being called up from Class AAA Portland last Thursday. It was also his 100th career win.

"(Estes) had good location and got the ball down," Cubs left fielder Alfonso Soriano said. "You have to give credit to him. After we scored three runs by the second inning, he started to move the ball a little bit more and pitched a very good game."

The 35-year-old southpaw, who struck out two, was lifted in the bottom of the sixth for reliever Cla Meredith after he surrendered a one-out single to Geovany Soto. Meredith retired the next two batters in the frame before hurling a scoreless seventh.

Heath Bell struck out two in the eighth before Trevor Hoffman came on in the ninth to record his seventh save of the season.

The Padres trailed 3-0 in the top of the fourth when Adrian Gonzalez and Scott Hairston led off with back-to-back singles off Chicago starter Jason Marquis (1-3).

Greene then deposited Marquis' pitch onto Waveland Avenue to tie the contest at 3-3. It was Greene's third homer of the season and second in three games.

Two outs later, Estes singled and moved to the second on a wild pitch before Gerut hammered a double into left-center field, giving San Diego its first lead at 4-3.

"All of his games are about the same," a frustrated manager Lou Piniella said of Marquis almost always giving up a big inning. "He had five good innings and one bad, and it cost him a ballgame."

Marquis gave up four runs, nine hits and a walk while striking out three in 5 2/3 innings.

"Obviously I made a bad pitch to Khalil Greene, and left it up in the zone," Marquis said. "It seems like every mistake I made is getting hit hard. It seems like the mistakes are being magnified more than anything."

The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, when Alfonso Soriano hit his 45th career leadoff homer. The six-time All-Star is now eight behind Craig Biggio for second all-time in that category.

In the bottom of the second, a one-out, two-run double by Reed Johnson increased Chicago's lead to 3-0.

"Estes had really good command on all his pitches," Johnson said. "He kept us off-balance. Give him credit, he pitched a good game for them."