Bonderman improves to 6-0 this year after close call

Tigers 8, Mets 7

DETROIT (AP) -- Jeremy Bonderman is still able to gut out a win even when he's not at the top of his game.

Bonderman won his sixth straight start and Carlos Guillen hit a three-run homer in the Detroit Tigers' 8-7 win over the New York Mets on Saturday.

"I felt great. I just got into trouble," Bonderman said. "I threw the ball well, I just made a few mistakes and gave up a few runs."

Bonderman (6-0) gave up eight hits and six runs -- five earned -- while striking out four in six-plus innings. After five straight no-decisions, Bonderman has won each of his last six starts.

"When you are facing a guy like that, you just want to get him out of the game as soon as possible," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "We were able to get back into the game against the pen."

Tigers manager Jim Leyland said Bonderman kept his poise in the seventh inning even as the Mets kept finding holes.

"He obviously did a good job against a real tough lineup," Leyland said. "They keep coming at you."

The Mets sent nine batters to the plate and came away with three runs in the seventh to pull within 8-6 and had threatened again to take the lead. But with the bases loaded, reliever Wilfredo Ledezma got Carlos Delgado to hit into an inning-ending grounder.

Todd Jones got three outs for his 16th save in 20 chances, helping the Tigers win for the fifth time in seven games.

Oliver Perez (6-5) pitched five innings, allowing a season-high five earned runs on seven hits with five walks.

"I didn't have my slider going for strikes today," Perez said. "I had to find another pitch, so I tried to throw the fastball more, and it was up in the zone."

The Mets took a lead in the first when Carlos Beltran was hit by Ivan Rodriguez's throw while stealing second. Before Tigers center fielder Omar Infante could get to the ball, Beltran headed home on the error and beat Infante's hurried throw to the plate.

Guillen's three-run homer off Perez in the bottom of the first gave the Tigers a 3-1 lead.

The Mets tied it with two runs in the fifth. Paul Lo Duca legged out an infield single and Ricky Ledee hit a double to deep right. Jose Reyes lined a single up the middle to score LoDuca and Ledee, but Bonderman picked off the speedy shortstop at first for the final out.

"Just to hold these guys the way we did is big for us," Bonderman said.

The Tigers went ahead 5-3 on a two-run single to left by Rodriguez in the fifth.

Detroit had a brief scare in the sixth when Delgado hit a shot to deep left, but the ball was caught easily by Craig Monroe on the warning track.

New York then brought in reliever Guillermo Mota, who was tagged for three runs in the sixth. Curtis Granderson led off with a double, extending his career-best hitting streak to 10 games. He advanced to third on Placido Polanco's infield single when David Wright's throw sailed over Delgado's head at first.

Gary Sheffield drove in Granderson on a single, and Magglio Ordonez hit a two-run double for an 8-3 lead.

"We did what good hitting teams are supposed to do," Leyland said. "They made a couple of mistakes and we hit them."

Wright's 11th home run, and third in as many games, in the eighth cut Detroit's lead to 8-7.

"It was a solid effort on our part," Wright said. "We battled back, but couldn't get the result we wanted."

Game notes
Tigers LHP Kenny Rogers will make his first rehab start with Triple-A Toledo Sunday. ... Monroe went 0-4 to extend his hitless streak to 16 at-bats. ... Perez's five walks were his most since matching a career high with seven on April 11 against Philadelphia.