• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Peavy, Cameron lead Padres past Cubs

May 23, 2007 - 7:03 AM SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- The San Diego Padres knew what to expect from Jake Peavy.

Peavy pitched six commanding innings and Mike Cameron homered twice as the Padres posted a 5-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.

Peavy (6-1) yielded just one run and four hits with one walk to pick up his third win in his last four outings and lowered his league-leading ERA to 1.63. His six strikeouts increased his total to 681 since 2004 - third most in the major leagues.

"(Chicago) is a good hitting team, and we kept them in check for the most part," Peavy said. "The boys did a nice job playing defense behind me. I could've went longer, but with a four-run lead and with our bullpen, I think it was a good choice by all of us."

The hard-throwing Peavy allowed his lone run when Chicago's Cliff Floyd delivered a run-scoring single in the first inning. But the righthander did not let another runner past second base and retired the final nine batters he faced.

"I thought Jake was just missing in the first inning," Padres manager Bud Black said. "He threw some close pitches but was just off the plate. Then he settled back in and made a slight adjustment. It was a well-pitched game by Jake. He held them down and did his thing."

Reliever Heath Bell struck out two in the seventh for the Padres, who have won six of their last eight contests.

Peavy also received plenty of early run support as Adrian Gonzalez stroked an RBI single in the first and rookie Kevin Kouzmanoff hit his second homer one frame later for a 2-0 lead.

"We've got confidence in (Peavy) and we know he's going to pitch a great game," Gonzalez said. "But, we can't just sit back and sit there being happy when he gets a lead. We still have to try to go out and score more runs for him."

In the third inning, Cameron and Gonzalez smacked back-to-back blasts to lead off against Cubs starter Rich Hill (4-4) to extend the advantage to 4-0. Cameron went deep again in the fifth, a solo shot to left.

After hitting just .192 through the first month of the season, Cameron has three homers and 12 RBI in 19 games in May.

"It's just something you don't really think about doing too often," Cameron said of hitting two homers at Petco Park. "When you hit the ball well, and you drive it, you've got a pretty good chance. I've been (hitting well) for the last three, four, five days now. Some of them are starting to fall in for me, and now I'm able to stay back on it a bit and put a charge into it."

Hill was pounded for five runs and six hits in six frames to remain winless in his last three starts. Despite the loss, Hill was able to strike out a season-high eight. "It was just poor pitch selection on my part," Hill said. "I just couldn't keep the team in the game, and I unfortunately made some bad choices on pitches. I'm just trying to get back to where I was at the beginning of the season."

The 27-year-old lefthander continues to struggle after his 3-1 start in April, going 1-3 since.

"(Hill) is not the same pitcher that left spring training," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "He's missing his spots. Some of those pitches that were hit out of the ballpark, the catcher was sitting on the outside corner, and the balls were inside. He's got to keep working. He's not throwing as hard either, for whatever reason."

Chicago first baseman Derrek Lee returned to the starting lineup for the first time since May 13. The former All-Star went 0-for-4 with one strike out.