KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Miguel Cabrera had four hits, including a homer during a five-run sixth inning, and the Detroit Tigers held off the Kansas City Royals 6-3 Monday night to clinch the AL Central title.

Gerald Laird added a bases-loaded double, Rick Porcello (10-12) pitched shutout ball into the sixth inning and Jhonny Peralta went deep off Bruce Chen (11-14) to help Detroit reach the postseason in consecutive years for the first time since 1934-35.

After hanging over the dugout railing the entire ninth inning, the Tigers streamed onto the field and behind the pitchers’ mound to celebrate their accomplishment the moment Jose Valverde got Alcides Escobar to ground out to shortstop with a runner on second for his 35th save in 40 chances.

The Tigers (87-73) will have the worst record among AL division champions, which means they’ll open the playoffs Saturday at home against the division winner with the second-best mark.

Cabrera, making a run at baseball’s first Triple Crown since 1967, broke a tie with Texas slugger Josh Hamilton for the major league lead in homers with his 44th, a solo shot to right.

Prince Fielder also had four hits.

Athletics 4, Rangers 3

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Coco Crisp’s latest big hit helped put Oakland back in the playoffs for the first time in six years, and the Athletics beat first-place Texas to remain in contention for a division crown.

Crisp had a go-ahead double in the fifth inning as the A’s (92-68) pulled within one game of Texas (93-67) in the AL West with two to go and moved into a tie with Baltimore for the American League’s top wild card.

Oakland’s victory eliminated the Angels and Rays from postseason contention.

Martin Perez (1-4), facing the A’s for the third time in his six major league starts, lasted four-plus innings.

Rays 5, Orioles 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Alex Cobb allowed two hits over seven innings, helping Tampa Bay keep its slim playoff hopes alive with a victory over Baltimore.

Ben Zobrist hit his 20th homer and Chris Giminez had a two-run double off Wei-Yin Chen (12-11) as the Rays pulled away from a 1-all tie in the seventh. Cobb (11-9) yielded a fourth-inning single to J.J. Hardy and a solo homer to Matt Wieters that tied it in the seventh.

The Rays won for the 11th time in 12 games, a stretch that’s kept them in contention for the second AL wild card. They began the night trailing Oakland by three games and must sweep the Orioles and hope the A’s drop three straight to Texas.

Baltimore already is assured of being in the playoffs for the first time in 15 years.

Angels 8, Mariners 4

SEATTLE (AP) — Mike Trout had four hits and drove in three runs against Seattle, but it wasn’t enough to keep Los Angeles in the playoff chase.

The Angels, with a high payroll and high expectations when the season started, were eliminated from the wild-card race when Oakland beat Texas.

C.J. Wilson (13-10) went 6.1 innings for the victory. He allowed six hits and two runs, striking out seven and walking five.

White Sox 11, Indians 0

CLEVELAND (AP) — White Sox rookie Hector Santiago allowed one hit in seven shutout innings to beat Cleveland, but Chicago was eliminated from postseason contention when Detroit defeated Kansas City.

Santiago (4-1), who began the season as the team’s closer, struck out a seasonhigh 10. The Indians’ only hit off the lefthander was Shin-Soo Choo’s two-out single in the third.

Blue Jays 6, Twins 5

TORONTO (AP) — Anthony Gose singled home the winning run in the 10th inning and Toronto rallied to beat Minnesota.

Adam Lind went 4 for 4 and Brandon Lyon (4-0) worked out of a bases-loaded jam to earn the win in front of a seasonlow crowd of 12,359.

Adeiny Hechavarria hit a one-out single off Brian Duensing (4-12) and moved to second on a wild pitch.