Kansas City, Mo. -- It has come to this. The Indians are either all in or all out.

The first-place Tigers are in town for a three-game series. When Ubaldo Jimenez throws his first pitch at 1:05 p.m., the Indians will be or 6 1/2 games behind Detroit in the AL Central. A sweep is what they need. Taking two out of three may not be good enough.

The Indians did what they had to do Sunday with a 9-6 victory over Kansas City at Kauffman Stadium. They won the three-game series, but Saturday's loss, coupled with the Tigers come-from-behind victory over Chicago the same day, has left the Indians with almost no alternatives but a sweep.

Closer Chris Perez, who earned his 32nd save Sunday, said a sweep is needed.

"It's go time," said Perez. "There's been enough talking all year. We have to go out and perform. We play 'em good at our place. We got our pitching lined up. Let's go."

The Indians will throw their top three starters, Jimenez, Fausto Carmona and Justin Masterson. The Tigers are countering with Doug Fister, Rick Porcello and 21-game winner Justin Verlander.

"I'm tired of talking about it," said Perez. "It's getting to crunch time. We're going to have to start winning 10 out of 11, 11 out of 12 and get some help."

The Indians (70-67) have 25 games left. Detroit (78-62), which beat Chicago on Sunday night, has 22 left.

In late August, when Indians players were landing on the disabled list in bunches, manager Manny Acta said he needed heroes to replace the injured. Shelley Duncan answered the call Sunday with two homers and a career-high five RBI to hold off a Kansas City team that hits and hits and hits.

Duncan, who has ridden the elevator four times between Cleveland and Class AAA Columbus this season, was not as emphatic as Perez concerning a sweep. His point, however, was the same.

"We have to win Monday," said Duncan. "How about that one? That's what we have to do. . . . You can't sweep if we don't win Monday."

The Indians and Tigers end the season with a three-game series at Comerica Park. It would make a great story if the division title came down those final three days, but this race could be over Wednesday.

"If we don't take advantage of this series, we can't be looking at the last three games of the season," said Acta. "You never know where you're going to be [by that time]. We have our three best guys going and we'll see where we end up."

The Indians and Tigers have split 12 games this season. The Indians are 5-1 at Progressive Field and 1-5 at Comerica Park. Last year they were 8-1 at home and 1-8 in Detroit.

"The most important thing for us is to win Monday," said Acta.

Jeanmar Gomez (2-2, 4.11 ERA) won his second straight start Sunday since replacing the injured Josh Tomlin in the rotation. He held the Royals to one run over 51/3 innings. Acta, however, needed six relievers to ensure the victory.

The Indians took a 4-0 lead against left-hander Jeff Francis (5-15, 4.72) after two innings. Jason Donald hit a bases-loaded single in the first to score Kosuke Fukudome, but when Carlos Santana tried to score from second, he was thrown out by right fielder Mitch Maier on one of the strangest plays of the season.

Catcher Brayan Pena, struggling to catch Maier's throw, flopped on the plate like an upside down turtle. All Santana had to do was slide and he would have scored. Instead he fell on top of Pena, basically tagging himself out.

The Indians won the season series against the Royals, 12-6, but their well-armed outfield cut down six Indians at the plate.

Rookie Jerad Head made it 2-0 with a double in the second to end an 0-for-18 slump. Head, who grew up in Topeka, Kan., used to come to Kauffman Stadium as a kid and cheer for George Brett and Bo Jackson.

Asdrubal Cabrera, who missed Saturday's game with a sore left knee, added a two-out double in the second. Then Duncan started to swing the bat. He hit a three-run homer in the sixth and a two-run homer in the eighth, both off right-hander Jesse Chavez.

"I wasn't feeling very good about my first three at-bats," said Duncan. "Then Bruce Fields, our hitting coach, gave me a really good adjustment to make at the plate. He deserves all the credit for that."

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