CHICAGO | A great pitching duel, huh? Sixteen strikeouts combined by starting pitchers Ted Lilly of the Cubs and Jake Peavy of the Padres through the first four innings.

But outside appearances are always deceiving in baseball. Peavy lasted just those four innings, while Lilly's eventual six-inning, 11-strikeout outing turned into more struggle than desired in the Cubs' 8-5 victory over the Padres.

Thanks to the sizzling Alfonso Soriano early and Geovany Soto in the middle innings, Lilly had enough cushion to turn over his eventual fourth victory to Carlos Marmol, an even better whiff king.

Marmol fanned the side in the seventh. Then the Cubs had to survive a slightly nervous ninth when closer Kerry Wood, brought in for a non-save situation, loaded the bases with one out.

San Diego scored once and brought the lead run to the plate before Wood retired Brian Giles on a fly to end the game.

Lilly (4-4) won his fourth game in his last five starts. He has struck out 21 in 13 innings over his last two starts.

"I don't think I just stand up there and try and throw fastballs by guys," Lilly said. "I have to mix my pitches and change speeds and locate the ball. At times when I got my curveball going, I think I'll get some strikeouts on it. I'm not going to say I'm a power pitcher.

For the second straight game, Soriano led off with a homer (No. 6), his 46th career leadoff shot. He then gave Lilly a 3-0 lead with a two-run single against Peavy in the second. Increased patience has been the key to Soriano's average climbing more than 70 points in the past week. Both hits were off 2-and-1 pitches. He is 11-for-his-last-23 with three homers and eight RBIs.

"Alfonso is a bit streaky," manager Lou Piniella said. "One thing is when he gets hot, he stays hot for a good period of time. He's been swinging the bat more consistently and starting to add power to the equation."

After Lilly gave up three runs in the fifth on ex-Sox Tadahito Iguchi's two-run single and a wild pitch, Soto reclaimed the three-run lead with his seventh homer, a two-run shot in the bottom of the inning.

Aramis Ramirez and Reed Johnson added RBI doubles in the sixth and seventh, respectively.

Marmol showed off his specialty to the Padres in the seventh. He struck out the side. The sharp slider specialist now has 35 strikeouts in 25 innings.