DETROIT (AP) -- Jhonny Peralta brought home the go-ahead run when Andy Dirks' hard slide broke up a potential inning-ending double play in the eighth inning and the Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals 5-4 Wednesday night.
Triple Crown candidate Miguel Cabrera was robbed of a tiebreaking homer in the fifth inning by Alex Gordon's catch above the left-field wall. Detroit, which started the day tied with the Chicago White Sox atop the AL Central for the first time since Sept. 2, found a way to break through the eighth, though.
It looked as if the Royals were going to keep the score tied in the eighth when Peralta hit a grounder to shortstop Alcides Escobar. Dirks, though, slid so late and hard that second baseman Irving Falu didn't attempt a throw, allowing pinch-runner Don Kelly to score.
(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
