AL Central tied with 1 game left

DETROIT — The AL Central has come down to the final day.

The Detroit Tigers dropped into a first-place tie with Minnesota, looking listless Saturday night in a 5-1 loss to Freddy Garcia and the Chicago White Sox.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland made two pitching changes in the second inning, trying to find a way to end his team's slump. Instead, Detroit lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Earlier in the day, the Twins beat Kansas City 5-4, leaving them even with the Tigers at 85-76.

Detroit will start ace Justin Verlander on Sunday against John Danks. If the Tigers and Twins are still tied at the end of the day, there will be a one-game playoff Tuesday at the Metrodome.

The Tigers are in danger of becoming the first team to be in first place on May 10 and stay atop a division until losing the title in the last week. Minnesota hasn't been in first — alone or tied — since May 14.

TWINS 5, ROYALS 4: At Minneapolis, Michael Cuddyer hit a solo home run in the eighth inning, lifting Minnesota over Kansas City and leaving the Twins tied with Detroit for the AL Central lead.

Joe Mauer delivered his biggest hit in an MVP-caliber season, a two-out single off Cy Young candidate Zack Greinke that broke a scoreless tie in the sixth. The Twins took a 4-0 lead before the Royals rallied to tie it.

Cuddyer hit his 31st homer of the season off Dusty Hughes (0-2).

ANGELS 4, ATHLETICS 2: At Oakland, Calif., Scott Kazmir pitched five scoreless innings, Robb Quinlan drove in three runs and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Oakland Athletics.

Kazmir (10-9) gave up three hits in his final playoff tuneup. Brian Fuentes pitched a scoreless ninth for his major league-leading 48th save.

Los Angeles, which plays Boston in the first round of the playoffs, won for the sixth time in seven games after a mid-September slump.

RAYS 5, YANKEES 3: At St. Petersburg, Fla., slumping Dioner Navarro hit a two-run homer and rookie Jeff Niemann pitched five solid innings to win for the first time in more than a month as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees.

RED SOX 11, INDIANS 6: At Boston, Victor Martinez hit a grand slam against his former team and the Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians despite a shaky outing by Josh Beckett.

ORIOLES 6, BLUE JAYS 3: At Baltimore, Mark Hendrickson won his first start since April, Jeff Fiorentino drove in two runs and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays for their third straight victory.

The victory assured the Orioles of avoiding the third 100-loss season in club history.

MARINERS 2, RANGERS 1: At Seattle, Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 630th career home run to help the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers.

Griffey opened the fourth inning with a line shot over the right-field wall, his 19th this season, against Tommy Hunter (9-6). Griffey has three home runs in his past four games.