DETROIT, 18 June 2005 — Jeremy Bonderman pitched seven strong innings and Chris Shelton homered and had an RBI single as the Detroit Tigers beat the San Diego Padres 3-1 in Interleague play at Comerica Park on Thursday.

The Tigers moved to within a game of the .500 mark at 31-32 in completing a three-game series sweep of the Padres.

San Diego is now 0-6 lifetime in Detroit, as the Padres lost all three games in the 1984 World Series against the Tigers in Detroit as well. Bonderman (8-4) allowed one run on four hits with four strikeouts and three walks.

Jamie Walker and Troy Percival both pitched a hitless inning of relief to complete the four-hitter, with Percival picking up his fifth save.

Ivan Rodriguez had two hits and scored a run for the Tigers and Dmitri Young drove in the winning run with a third inning sacrifice fly.

Dave Roberts led off the game with a home run for San Diego, but the Padres managed just three singles the rest of the game, two of them from Sean Burroughs.

Woody Williams (2-5) allowed three runs on six hits over seven innings to take the loss, striking out three and walking none.

It was the fourth straight loss for the Padres and their 11th loss in 14, in a game that took just two hours and two minutes to play.

In Oakland, Kris Benson pitched six solid innings as the New York Mets beat the Athletics 9-6. Benson (5-2) allowed three runs on seven hits and walking two. Braden Looper pitched one inning for his 13th save. Carlos Beltran and Mike Piazza both homered for the Mets. Ryan Glynn (0-3) pitched four innings, allowing five runs — four earned — on five hits, walking four and striking out one to take the loss.

In New York, Randy Johnson pitched a complete game five-hitter as the Yankees beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1. Johnson (7-5) allowed one run and struck out 11 while Hideki Matsui homered for the Yankees.

Oliver Perez (5-5) pitched five innings, allowing six runs on seven hits, walking five and striking out five to take the loss.

In Cleveland, Grady Sizemore had two hits and drove in a run as the Indians beat the Colorado Rockies 2-1. Kevin Millwood (2-4) pitched five innings, allowing four hits, walking two and striking out five.

In Minneapolis, Omar Vizquel had five hits and drove in four runs as the San Francisco Giants scored seven runs in the top of the ninth to thump the Minnesota Twins 14-7. Jason Christiansen (3-1) pitched one inning, allowing one hit and striking out one for the win.

In Kansas City, Alberto Castillo had two hits and drove in three runs as the Royals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-6. Mike Wood (3-2) pitched two innings, allowing one hit and walking two for the win.

Derek Lowe (5-7) pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing eight runs — three earned — on nine hits and striking out one to take the loss. Jason Grabowski homered for the Dodgers.

In Seattle, Tomas Perez’s sacrifice fly to deep right field scored Jimmy Rollins in the top of the 13th inning to give the Philadelphia Phillies a 3-2 victory over the Mariners. Geoff Geary (1-0) pitched two innings of hitless relief to pick up the win.

Smoltz in Command as Braves Down Reds

In New York, John Smoltz pitched eight strong innings while Rafael Furcal and Brian Giles each homered as the Atlanta Braves eased to a 5-2 road win over the Cincinnati Reds 5-2 in Thursday’s lone National League game.

Smoltz (6-5) allowed two runs on four hits and had nine strikeouts and no walks to win for the third time in his last four decisions.

The 38-year-old veteran won his 169th career game and also went two-for-three at the plate. Smoltz returned to the starting rotation this season after spending most of the past seasons as the Braves closer.

Chris Reitsma pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his fifth save of the season, completing the five-hitter. Furcal homered in the first and Giles hit his in the fifth inning to give Smoltz a 3-1 lead.

Atlanta had 13 hits, with Giles also having two hits and scoring twice. Julio Franco, Johnny Estrada and Brian Jordan also had two hits each for the Braves. The Braves won for just the fifth time in their last 14 games while the slumping Reds lost their fourth straight game.

Brandon Claussen (3-4) allowed three runs on nine hits over 5 2/3 innings, striking out nine and walking two, to take the loss. Joe Randa and Adam Dunn both homered to account for the Reds runs and also both had two hits.