Tigers, Cabrera closing in on prize

Miguel Cabrera continued his bid for baseball's rare triple crown and helped the Detroit Tigers close the gap on the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central with a 6-2 victory over Oakland on Wednesday.

Ace pitcher Justin Verlander tossed six scoreless innings to make it an easy night at home for the Tigers (79-69) as they pulled within two games of first place Chicago (81-67), which lost 3-0 at Kansas City.

Cabrera's bid to become the first man to lead the league in batting, home runs and RBI since Boston's Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 is becoming a gripping subplot to the league-wide race for the playoffs.