Jhonny Peralta hit the go-ahead run as the Detroit Tigers defeated the Kansas City Royals 5-4 in Wednesday's game at Comerica Park.
Peralta scored the winning run in the eighth inning, with a potential inning-ending double play was broken up by Andy Dirks' hard slide.
Alex Gordon took a great catch above the left-field wall that denied Miguel Cabrera a tiebreaking homer in the fifth inning. The Tigers, which began the day tied with the White Sox at the top of the AL Central, were able to break through in the eighth inning though.
It seemed that the Kansas City Royals would keep the score tied in the eighth inning when Peralta hit a grounder which was stopped by Escobar. Pinch runner Don Kelly easily scored when second baseman Irving Falu failed to attempt a throw following Dirks's late and hard slide. Dirks was later mobbed by teammates.
"I was just trying to break up the double play and try to get a piece of him any way I could to help us score that run," Dirks said. "That's just kind of the way you play baseball."
An infield single was hit by Delmon Young off Kelvin Herrera (4-3) with one out in the eighth. He was replaced by Kelly.
A two-run homer came from Alex Avila while Austin Jackson tied the game in the fourth inning with a solo shot.
The Tigers have succeeded in six out of their nine games in their final 10-game home series. However, they were defeated in 11 straight one-run games since they beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 on August 23.
Royals manager, Ned Yost said: "I love my team. We've played three games here, and we're 0-3, but we're in these games and we're not far from the point where we are going to be consistently winning against these teams.
"No matter what has happened this year, we've gotten knocked down and gotten right back up. These guys fight every day, and they are going to do everything in their power to beat Detroit in these games."
Meanwhile, The White Sox had an opportunity to retain the top spot in the AL Cenral but were stunned by the Cleveland Indians 6-4 at the US Cellular Field in Chicago on Wednesday.
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