Estes had Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery in June 2006 and had been rehabbing since. The Padres called him up from Class AAA Portland last Thursday after he posted a 4-2 record with a 3.67 ERA in six starts.

"This is a special night," said Padres manager Bud Black, a former pitcher and pitching coach. "An injury of that magnitude at his age (Estes is now 35) is not an easy thing to come back from. It's a tribute to his perseverance."

"I didn't know what to expect from myself," said Estes. "I didn't know if I was going to make it back. Last August, I was in so much pain and had made so little progress that I almost quit. I decided I was going to go to the doctor one last time. I had prepared myself to retire."

Instead, after receiving a change in medication, Estes finally started making progress. And although there were setbacks along the way -- such as this spring when he failed to make the Padres rotation out of training camp -- Estes built on his resolve to pitch again in the major leagues.

"I swallowed my pride a little bit a couple of times," said Estes, who gave up three runs (two earned) on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings on a Tuesday evening when a stiff wind was blowing out at Wrigley Field and Alfonso Soriano led off the game with a homer.

"That wasn't very good," Estes said of Soriano's homer. "I didn't put myself in a very good situation."

PADRES 4, CUBS 3: Shortstop Khalil Greene backed Shawn Estes' return with a three-run homer and two great defensive plays as the Padres scored a third win in a four-game span for only the third time this season. Estes singled and scored the winning run on Jody Gerut's two-out double in the fourth.