DETROIT ? Jose Contreras went to the mound with his head up, chest out and shoulders back.

Then he was as dominant as he looked.

Contreras pitched into the ninth inning for the first time in his career and Alex Rodriguez hit two of the New York Yankees’ five home runs in a 5-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday night.

“I like to watch body language, and he walked to the mound with a good strut,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said.

Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Hideki Matsui and Kenny Lofton all hit homers against Jeremy Bonderman — his only hits allowed — and Rodriguez added another home run, his 24th, off Wilfredo Ledezma in the ninth.

All five of New York’s hits were home runs.

“I’ve never seen that before,” Rodriguez said.

Contreras (7-3) gave up just four hits in his longest major league outing since joining the Yankees for the 2003 season after defecting from Cuba. He pitched eight innings last Sept. 23 at Chicago when the Yankees clinched the AL East.

“Against the White Sox, I pitched a pretty good game, but it wasn’t as good as this one,” Contreras said through an interpreter. “As far as the major leagues go, those are the two best games I can think of.

“Prior to coming here, with the Cuban national team in 2001, I threw 11 innings against Japan. That was pretty good, but that was amateur, it doesn’t compare.”

After Dmitri Young had a leadoff triple in the fourth, Contreras retired 15 straight until he allowed Bobby Higginson’s single to start the ninth. Mariano Rivera relieved and got the final three outs.

New York left fielder Hideki Matsui blasts a solo home run off Jeremy Bonderman in the Yankees' 5-1 victory over the Tigers on Thursday night in Detroit.

With two-plus months left in the regular season, Contreras tied his win total from last season with his seventh victory in eight decisions. He struck out seven and walked one.

“Contreras was great — the best I’ve seen,” Tigers manager Alan Trammell said. “He had command of everything.

“We’re a pretty good hitting team, but he was awfully good.”

Detroit started the game with a major league best .283 batting average.

The Yankees won their fifth straight in their first game since the All-Star game. Detroit had won five of six against Minnesota and New York before the break.

When Bonderman (6-7) wasn’t giving up home runs, he was effective.

“They are a good team with a lot of power, and I made some stupid pitches,” said Bonderman, who struck out six and walked one in seven innings. “You can’t be throwing hanging breaking balls and fastballs down the middle.”

Six straight batters in the third and fourth innings alternated hitting homers and whiffing. After starting the third with a strikeout, Bonderman allowed Lofton’s 407-foot homer. Then, another strikeout was followed by Jeter’s 424-foot shot to left-center that put New York ahead 2-1.

Orioles 5, Devil Rays 4

St. Petersburg, Fla. — David Newhan hit a tiebreaking, two-run triple in the seventh inning.

Newhan finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs and Larry Bigbie homered for the Orioles, who won for the second time in six games.

Daniel Cabrera (7-3) allowed three runs and five hits in six innings, sending the Devil Rays to their fifth straight loss.

The Devil Rays had the bases loaded with two outs in the ninth, but Jorge Julio retired Julio Lugo on a fly out to right for his 13th save in 15 opportunities.

Aubrey Huff homered for the Devil Rays. Victor Zambrano lasted 41/3 innings, allowing two runs and four hits. He walked six — giving him a major league-leading 90 walks — and started the game with six straight balls. He also had a throwing error on a potential double play grounder later in the first that lead to an unearned run.

Athletics 4, White Sox 2

Oakland, Calif. — Rich Harden pitched eight innings of four-hit ball and Eric Chavez homered in his first home game back from an injury.

Rookie Bobby Crosby had an RBI double for the A’s, who snapped Chicago’s four-game winning streak with just their second victory in seven games.

Harden (4-5) retired Chicago’s first 13 hitters before Jose Valentin’s one-out single to right field in the fifth. He allowed another single in the sixth, but thanks to two double plays, Harden faced the minimum 18 batters through six innings.

Octavio Dotel pitched the ninth for his third save in five chances since arriving in a trade with Houston last month.

Magglio Ordonez hit a two-run homer in the seventh. Jon Garland (7-6) allowed six hits and five walks in seven innings, losing for the third time in five starts.

Mariners 2, Indians 1

Seattle — Justin Leone hit his first major league homer — a two-run shot — to back Joel Pineiro and help Seattle end a nine-game losing.

Pineiro (5-10) allowed one run and four hits in eight innings for the Mariners, who had not won since July 1. Eddie Guardado pitched the ninth for his 16th save in 21 opportunities.

Leone, who hit 21 homers in 68 games at Triple-A Tacoma before being called up by the Mariners on July 1, connected off All-Star Jake Westbrook (6-5) in the seventh.

Angels 8, Red Sox 1

Anaheim, Calif. — Darin Erstad homered and drove in three runs, and Chone Figgins also had three RBIs for Anaheim.

Jarrod Washburn (10-4) allowed just three hits in seven strong innings, leading the Angels to their fourth straight victory. Pitching a week after earning his first career shutout, the left-hander struck out three and walked two while beating Derek Lowe (7-9).