Tigers 6, Royals 3: Miguel Cabrera homered to enhance his Triple Crown chances and Gerald Laird drove in three runs as visiting Detroit clinched the American League Central by taking down Kansas City.

With the Chicago White Sox having won earlier at Cleveland, the Tigers needed the victory Monday to put the Central away. Jhonny Peralta snapped a scoreless tie with a solo homer in the fifth and Cabrera's solo blast in the sixth sparked a five-run rally.

Cabrera finished 4-for-5 to boost his league-leading batting average to .329. He is also setting the pace in home runs (44) and RBIs (137) with two games left.

Rick Porcello (10-12) worked five solid innings to earn the win, allowing one run on four hits while walking three and striking out three.

Cabrera got an 0-1 fastball from Bruce Chen (11-14) in the sixth and lined it into the Detroit bullpen in right-center. Peralta reached three batters later on an error by center fielder David Lough and the next two made it aboard in front of Laird, who ended Chen’s night by driving a three-run double down the left field line.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Jose Valverde worked around a one-out single in the ninth for his 35th save in 40 opportunities. … Royals 1B Eric Hosmer (right rotator cuff) sat out. He could miss the last two games. … With the Tigers having clinched, RHP Max Scherzer (shoulder) will likely skip his scheduled start Wednesday and rest until the playoffs.