MINNEAPOLIS -- Miguel Cabreras line drive home run in the eighth inning against Minnesota moved him into a tie with Texas star Josh Hamilton for the AL lead, bringing the first triple crown since 1967 that much closer to reality. The blast may have been even bigger for Detroits playoff chances. Cabreras home run gave the Tigers a five-run cushion they would end up needing and Justin Verlander struck out eight in seven innings in a 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday that gave them a two-game lead in the AL Central. Cabreras blast in the eighth inning off Casey Fien was his 43rd home run for the year. He also leads the AL in batting average (.327) and RBIs (136) as he looks to become the first player since 1967 to lead the league in all three categories. "Its unbelievable what hes done this year," said Verlander, the reigning AL MVP who was wearing a dark blue t-shirt with the message "Keep the MVP in the D" and Cabreras name on the front. "Its amazing to me how he keeps getting better. Hes already the best hitter in the game and he keeps taking it to another level." Verlander (17-8) allowed four hits and one unearned run to drop his ERA to 2.64 for the Tigers, who had to sweat out another close one. Cabreras homer proved to be a big one after Ryan Doumit hit a grand slam off of Joaquin Benoit in the eighth. Al Alburquerque helped the Detroit bullpen do what it couldnt do against the lowly Twins on Friday night -- finish the game. Jose Valverde picked up his 33rd save. Prince Fielder and Andy Dirks also went deep for Detroit. Chicago lost to Tampa Bay 10-4 moments before the final out of the Tigers game. "I want to talk about the team," Cabrera said respectfully. "Theres too many distractions right now and been talking too much about triple crowns. I pull too much attention. I dont want to do that. I want to go out there and play my game." P.J. Walters (2-5) gave up two runs on four hits with five strikeouts in five innings for the Twins. Joe Mauer went 0 for 3 with two walks, dropping his average to .320. One day after Detroit lost a game of cushion to the White Sox when reliever Brayan Villarreal couldnt find the plate in the eighth inning of a 4-2 loss to the lowly Twins, Verlander came out determined to make sure the Tigers kept the pressure on Chicago. "That was a huge game for us," manager Jim Leyland said. "You look at the scoreboard and see the White Sox most likely are going to lose. Thats a game youve got to win." With a free and easy delivery, the right-hander kept his fastball at 93 or 94 mph while keeping the Twins off balance with an array of off-speed pitches. He started to ramp things up in the fourth when he blew Justin Morneau away with consecutive fastballs of 98 and 99 and hit 100 later in the inning. It wasnt just Verlanders dazzling stuff that gave the Twins hitters problems. The afternoon shadows at Target Field make it very difficult for hitters to pick up the ball coming out of the pitchers hand and often contributes to slow days for the offence. That appeared to be the case early for Cabrera as well, who was befuddled by Walters. The slugger struck out in his first two at-bats and flew out to right in his third. Cabrera entered the day leading Mauer by five points in the batting race, Hamilton by eight in the RBI race, but trailing Hamilton by one in homers. So will he be watching Hamilton down the stretch? "Ill let you guys keep Hamilton in your eyes," Cabrera said. "Ill go to the hotel and get some breakfast tomorrow and try to win tomorrow." The bigger prize, of course, is the division title. Neither the Tigers nor the Sox will qualify for one of two wild cards in the American League, so their only way in is through the division door. "The last couple weeks, theres too much attention right now," Cabrera said of the triple crown. "I dont like too much of that stuff. But its always good. Youve got to feel comfortable with that. Youve got to feel positive and be ready to play." NOTES: Verlander left with nobody out in the eighth after Denard Span reached on an error, marking just the fourth time all season hes been taken out in the middle of an inning. ... One night after making a costly error late in a 4-2 loss to the Twins, Fielder was sharp at 1B, making a quick decision on a hot grounder from Jamey Carroll in the fifth. Fielder threw to third base and Cabrera chased Trevor Plouffe down to get the lead runner. ... Plouffe snapped an 0-for-18 skid with a double in the fifth inning. ... The Tigers will send RHP Anibal Sanchez (4-6, 3.95) to the mound for the series finale against Twins RHP Liam Hendriks (1-8, 6.09). Sanchez is coming off of his first shutout in more than a year, a three-hitter against Kansas City that put the Tigers into a tie for first place. wholesale nfl jerseys . Hunter Shinkaruk scored once and set up four others for the Tigers (6-8-1), while Boston Leier, Ty Stanton, Dylan Bredo, Chad Labelle and Gavin Broadhead also scored. wholesale jerseys . -- New Orlando Magic general manager Rob Hennigan has met face-to-face with Dwight Howard, but the team isnt commenting on what was discussed. http://www.chinacheapnfljerseysst... . According to a report on the website TMZ.com, Rousey will automatically be named the UFCs 135-pound womens champion and Sara McMann, Cris Cyborg and Miesha Tate are the fighters who are named as possible opponents for her first defence. [url=http://www.chinacheapnfljerseysstore.com/]cheap nfl jerseys . They sure look like one of the top teams out West. David Lee had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and the Warriors beat the listless Atlanta Hawks 115-93 on Saturday night. cheap jerseys nfl store . The Germans reached the European Championship semifinals for a record seventh time by beating Greece 4-2 Friday in a match played amid the contentious political backdrop between the countries.DENVER -- Denver Nuggets guard Rudy Fernandez has undergone what the team termed successful back surgery on Thursday. The operation was performed by Dr. Sanjay Jantana. Fernandez is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season but might be back for the playoffs. He missed a dozen games with a lower back strainn, which flared up against Dallas on March 19, prompting further evaluation.dddddddddddd Fernandez was acquired by the Nuggets along with Corey Brewer in exchange for a future second-round draft pick last December. He averaged 8.6 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.03 steals in 31 games for Denver. ' ' '