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Bonderman wins again as Tigers rout Indians

Jun 3, 2007 - 10:59 PM CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Jeremy Bonderman can't seem to lose these days.

Bonderman picked up his fifth straight victory and the Tigers pounded out 14 hits, five of them for extra bases, in a 9-2 win over the Cleveland Indians on Sunday.

Detroit, which lost the first five games against their American League Central division rival, has won two in a row against Cleveland to earn a split in a four-game series.

"I think we showed we are pretty good team," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "We got our gut tested Friday night and we came back and won the next two. I'm pretty impressed with our team."

After allowing a two-run homer to Victor Martinez in the first inning, Bonderman settled down, holding Cleveland hitless until the seventh.

"I thought he did a tremendous job," Leyland said. "To shut down that line up for five innings in a row is amazing."

Bonderman (5-0) has won all three of his starts since coming off the 15-day disabled list on May 9th. The righthander, who was on the DL with a blister on his right middle finger, allowed two runs on four hits while striking out seven in 6 2/3 innings.

"I have been trying to get ahead of hitters and not stay in one spot in the zone," Bonderman said. "(Cleveland's) a good hitting team. I would have liked to gone deeper in the game today, but they worked a lot of deep counts."

After taking a 3-2 lead in the second on an RBI groundout by Neifi Perez, the Tigers widened their lead with two runs in the fourth and fifth innings.

Ivan Rodriguez started the fourth inning rally with a one-out double off of Indians starter Jeremy Sowers. Craig Monroe would follow with his second double of the game, scoring Rodriguez. After a Perez fly out, Curtis Granderson made the score 5-2 with an RBI single to center.

"We are swinging the bats well," Rodriguez said. "We are having good at-bats."

"Detroit this entire week was seeing the ball well and scoring a lot of runs," Sowers said. "Every guy we threw out there they got the best of."

Marcus Thames extended the Detroit lead to 7-2 with a two-run single with the bases loaded in the fifth. Sean Casey capped the scoring with a two-run single in the ninth.

It was another rough outing for Sowers, who failed to make it into the fifth for the third time this season. The lefthander gave up five runs on seven hits in four innings and is now 0-2 in three starts this season at home.

"Today was a step back in getting back to my normal self," Sowers said. "My confidence is spotty, sometimes its good, sometimes its bad. I probably shouldn't be saying that. It's been a rollercoaster in terms of that. One way or another I need to get my confidence back."

For the first time all season the Indians have dropped two straight at home. Cleveland still is major league-best 19-6 at home. "Hopefully the guys will enjoy the day off (Monday)," Wedge said. "They have grinded it out the last four days. I'm pleased with the way they played this series."

Gary Sheffield gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead with two-run homer to left off Sowers in the first. Omar Infante, who led off the game with a double to center, scored on Sheffield 's 13th home run of the season.