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Bonderman wins eighth straight; Tigers cruise by Nationals

Jun 21, 2007 - 5:40 AM WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Despite the loss of Ivan Rodriguez, Jeremy Bonderman and the Detroit Tigers continue to roll.

Bonderman pitched five solid innings to win his eighth consecutive start as the Tigers defeated the Washington Nationals, 8-4, in an interleague game on Wednesday.

Magglio Ordonez had three hits and scored twice and Carlos Guillen hit a two-run homer for Detroit, which has won four straight and is tied for first with the Cleveland Indians in the American League Central Division.

"We've come in and scored some runs and then have held on," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "We've got three more on this nine-day trip in the National League and it's tough, but so far the guys have responded."

The Tigers scored 32 runs in this three-game series - the most they've tallied in a series since posting 33 during a three-game set in Kansas City on Sept. 22-24 of last season.

Bonderman (8-0) allowed three runs, five hits and a walk for the longest winning streak of his career. The righthander, who struck out four, became the first Tiger to win eight consecutive starts since Dave Mlicki accomplished that feat from August 6-September 13, 1999.

Leyland opted to lift Bonderman in the sixth inning for pinch-hitter Gary Sheffield with two runners aboard and no outs in the sixth; however the veteran slugger popped out along the third base line.

"I wasn't going to fool around," Leyland said. "I was going to take a shot to break it open and (Sheff) got a good pitch to hit. He tried to do a little too much with it, he said after the game."

Bonderman, a five-year veteran, who failed to receive a decision in his first five starts this season, becomes the only pitcher in the majors to remain perfect with six-or-more victories.

"Jeremy's one of our horses and it couldn't happen to a better guy," Leyland said. "I'm sure that was a freak situation for him tonight to come out that early, but like I said, I was taking my shot."

Bonderman didn't mind the short work night.

"I didn't have to do a whole lot at all," Bonderman said. "That's the National League, I guess. When you've got a close ball game and the bases loaded and you have Gary Sheffield on the bench because he's not playing today, I'm coming out. That's just how it works."

The Tigers won despite the loss of Rodriguez, who departed the game with a leg injury in the fourth inning.

Rodriguez was removed in the fourth after catching a pitch from Bonderman and staggering out from behind home plate. The 17-year veteran began to gingerly walk towards the Tigers' dugout and was quickly replaced by backup Mike Rabelo. The injury was later diagnosed as a hamstring spasm to his right leg. The 13-time All-Star was listed as day-to-day.

"(Pudge) had like a cramp," Leyland said. "It didn't appear to be a pulled hamstring or anything, but it kept cramping up on him so we got him out of there."

Detroit helped Bonderman gain the win with a big sixth inning.

With the score tied at 3-3 in the frame, Ordonez led off with a walk against Nationals reliever Saul Rivera (1-2) before moving to third on a single by Guillen. After Rabelo walked on four pitches, Rivera was replaced by Jesus Colome, who promptly gave up run-scoring singles to Brandon Inge and Omar Infante to give Detroit a 5-3 lead.

One out later, Curtis Granderson singled to right field to plate two more to increase the lead to four. Craig Monroe added an RBI groundout to make it 8-3.

"Our hitters have just put on a show for the last two months; it's been incredible," Bonderman said. "I don't think I've had a start in my last six or seven that I haven't gotten eight runs from my teammates. It's something that you just marvel at. You're amazed by the rallies these guys put together in a hurry."

After the Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on three consecutive singles by Monroe, Thames and Ordonez, they increased their advantage in the fourth.

With one out, Ordonez beat out an infield single to shortstop before Guillen drove an 0-2 pitch from National starter Mike Bacsik that hit the top of the wall in left before bouncing over to give Detroit a three-run lead.

Ordonez, who drove in his 67th run, went 3-for-4 to increase his batting average to .383, best in the majors.

"Yeah, it was a good night for me and my team," Ordonez said. "I feel good. I've been swinging the bat really good and hopefully I keep swinging it like this. I don't think we can do this every day, but we're doing it right now. We just have to keep playing hard and keep winning ball games."

Bacsik allowed three runs and six hits in five innings but avoided his fifth straight loss.

The Nationals tied the game in the fourth on RBI singles by Dmitri Young and Ryan Church, who later scored on a wild pitch by Bonderman.

Church and Austin Kearns each had two hits for Washington, which was swept by Detroit and has lost five of six.

"I'm not surprised with anything that I saw, but you're going to have to put up some runs to beat them," Kearns said. "When you play the upper-tier teams in this league you realize there's not much room for error when you play them."

Washington manager Manny Acta had no answers to prevent his team from getting swept for the fourth time this season.

"We just got outplayed over the series," Acta said. "What can I say? They are a great ball club. They've got everything that you want, and we did the best we could. We battled in the first game and scored enough runs but could not hold them. Today, we battled again, but they even beat up on our strength, which is our bullpen."