OAKLAND, CALIF. ? Mark Mulder and his manager knew his left arm was fine when they went out golfing earlier this week and the pitcher was 1-over par after nine holes.

On Thursday, Mulder’s game was superb for nine innings. In his first outing since taking a ball in the forearm, he retired the first 13 batters and pitched a three-hitter for his first shutout since last June to lead the Oakland Athletics over the Detroit Tigers, 2-0.

During his golf outing with Ken Macha, Mulder finished with a 76 on a course in nearby Livermore.

“I was surprised he asked me to play a day after I got hit in the arm,” Mulder said.

There were no signs the lump on his arm from Saturday’s liner affected his delivery or control.

Mulder (3-1) only allowed six balls out of the infield after the first inning in his most efficient start of the season. He threw just 25 pitches through three innings, 16 for strikes, and was out of the first inning in six pitches.

Craig Monroe singled to shortstop in the fifth to break up Mulder’s no-hit bid. The ball glanced off Mulder’s glove, slowing it just enough for Monroe to barely beat out the throw by Miguel Tejada. Mulder struck out three and walked one.

“I felt this good the last couple starts, but I just made some mistakes,” he said. “I didn’t make mistakes. I pretty much kept the same rhythm the whole game.”

The Tigers, who beat Cy Young Award winner Barry Zito on Wednesday for their second win of the season, are 2-18 — the worst 20-game start in club history. They lost in Tim Hudson’s start on Tuesday.

Oakland's Mark Mulder delivers against Detroit. Mulder pitched a three-hitter as the A's defeated the Tigers, 2-0, Thursday in Oakland, Calif.

“The three pitchers we just faced are the top dogs in baseball and we competed against them,” Tigers manager Alan Trammell said. “We had a chance against them and that’s some sort of positive.”

Detroit starter Nate Cornejo (1-2), who spent the majority of last season at Triple-A Toledo, allowed one run and five hits in six innings.

Mariners 4, Indians 2

Seattle — Jamie Moyer pitched six strong innings, and Bret Boone hit a two-run single as Seattle beat Cleveland for its first three-game sweep of the Indians in nearly 10 years.

Moyer (3-1) allowed a two-run homer to Casey Blake in the first inning but quickly settled down as Seattle finished off its first three-game sweep against Cleveland since July 9-11, 1993, at the Kingdome.

Boone singled sharply up the middle in the fifth off reliever Jose Santiago to score Dan Wilson and Ichiro Suzuki and put the Mariners ahead 3-2. Edgar Martinez had an RBI single in the first.

With closer Kazuhiro Sasaki on the disabled list, Jeff Nelson pitched the ninth for his first save.

Angels 6, Yankees 2

Anaheim, Calif. — Bengie Molina hit a three-run homer and Anaheim beat New York to avoid a three-game sweep in their rematch of last year’s playoff series. Anaheim snapped the Yankees’ seven-game winning streak and handed them just their fourth loss in 22 games. The Angels beat Andy Pettitte to end a 16-0 run by New York starting pitchers this season.

Pettitte (3-1) allowed six runs and eight hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out three and gave up the homer to Molina in the second inning after Tim Salmon hit a solo shot in the first.

New York pitchers have allowed only seven homers this season.

Rangers 16, Red Sox 5

Arlington, Texas — Rafael Palmeiro and Juan Gonzalez both hit three-run homers, and Carl Everett had a three-run triple to power Texas past Boston. Palmeiro’s 496th career homer, his sixth this season, was a 427-foot drive in the fifth that put the Rangers ahead 13-5. He is 19th on the career list.

Everett’s triple into the right-field corner in the third put the Rangers ahead 6-4 and chased Derek Lowe (3-2). Texas sent 11 men to the plate in the inning and scored seven runs.

Gonzalez went 3-for-4 and scored three times, including his sixth homer of the season in the first. The two-time AL MVP had gone 10 games without an extra-base hit or an RBI before hitting two homers and a double and driving in eight runs in the three-game series.

Blue Jays 5, Devil Rays 3

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Tanyon Sturtze allowed two runs over six innings, and Orlando Hudson had a two-run single during a three-run fifth as Toronto beat Tampa Bay. Sturtze (3-1), who yielded six hits, was 4-18 last season with the Devil Rays. Kelvim Escobar recorded three outs for his third save.

Toronto went 3-8 on its longest road trip of the season. The Blue Jays were coming off two 4-3 losses in which they wasted 3-0 leads.

Tampa Bay’s Jorge Sosa (1-2) didn’t allow hit until Jayson Werth doubled with two outs in the fifth. Chris Woodward walked, the runners moved up on a wild pitch and Hudson’s two-run single tied the game.

Orioles 5, White Sox 4

Baltimore — Deivi Cruz and Gary Matthews Jr. homered in a three-run seventh inning as Baltimore rallied to beat Chicago. Melvin Mora went 3-for-4 with a homer for the Orioles, who climbed over .500 (11-10) for the first time since opening day. By taking two of three from the White Sox, Baltimore has won three straight series for the first time since April 19-28, 2002.