The Kansas City Royals rallied for two runs in the fifth inning and then added a home run by Jeff Francoeur in the bottom eighth inning for insurance to beat the Detroit Tigers 4-2 on Tuesday night.
After clinching the AL Central on Monday night, the Tigers were suddenly preparing for post-season play, as starter Doug Fister (10-10) gave up seven hits and three runs in four and one-third innings on the mound to take the loss. Kansas City starter Jeremy Guthrie (5-3) gave up two runs in six innings to earn the win for the Royals.
Detroit third baseman Miguel Cabrera continued his pursuit of the Triple Crown by upping his league-leading batting average to .331 with two hits in three at bats before leaving the game in the fifth inning. Cabrera also knocked in two runs to up his league leading RBI total to 139 with one game left in the season.
Cabrera will need to hold on to his home run lead to become the first Triple Crown winner since Carl Yazstremski in 1967. With 44 home runs, Cabrera holds a slim lead over Texas slugger Josh Hamilton who started play on Tuesday against the Oakland Athletics with 43 homers.
The two teams will complete the regular season on Wednesday night starting at 8:10 p.m. ET