KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There seemed like no chance Jace Jung was going to score on the play at the plate in the third inning.

Except he did.

"He missed the tag on me," Jung said.

It was like how a month ago the Detroit Tigers had no chance to make the postseason — but after Wednesday's 4-2 win over the Kansas City Royals to sweep the three-game series at Kauffman Stadium, they're only a half-game behind the Minnesota Twins for the third and final spot in the American League wild-card race.

There are nine games remaining.

"We've played pretty good baseball for a while, and we've largely stayed away from the talk of any standings," manager A.J. Hinch said. "That doesn't really matter until the next game, but I know we're playing well. I know we're a tough team to deal with."

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The Twins lost to the Cleveland Guardians, 5-4, on a walk-off single in extra innings, allowing three runs in the bottom of the 10th. The Twins and Guardians will complete their four-game series on Thursday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Tigers (80-73) have won four games in a row, for a 25-10 record in their last 35 games (dating back to Aug. 11). The Tigers have a 36.9% chance to make the postseason, according to FanGraphs.

As for Jung's play, an aggressive send from fearless third-base coach Joey Cora in the third inning created a memorable moment as the Tigers continued their improbable push for the playoffs.

With two runners on, Trey Sweeney shot a two-strike slider from right-hander Alec Marsh into the right-field corner.

Spencer Torkelson scored easily, but Jung — not known for his speed — had to hustle to score from first base. The throw from right fielder Hunter Renfroe to catcher Salvador Pérez beat Jung to the plate, but Jung avoided the tag with an athletic slide.

"When I was sliding in, I was like, get as low to the ground as I possibly could," Jung said. "That's what I was thinking. I felt the plate, didn't feel a tag, and I was like, 'Oh yeah, I'm going to get pumped up now.' I got really excited and tried to hype up the guys after."

He rolled out of his sideways slide, popped up to his feet and flexed in celebration. He left his helmet behind and floated to the dugout, where he was greeted with high-fives from teammates and coaches.

"It was really an amazing sign of athleticism," Torkelson said.

The successful slide put the Tigers ahead, 4-1.

"He's an emotional player, and he's young," Hinch said of Jung, a 23-year-old who made his MLB debut in mid-August. "He's trying to learn. I'm putting him in different roles. He's not used to not playing. He's not used to getting one or two at-bats. One thing I know about Jace is when you put him in the game, he's going to fight the other side — like not physically, but competitively — and do his best to make it hard on the opponent. He's a baseball player. I know that's a catchphrase, but he's the definition of it."

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Riley Greene homers

The Tigers scored their first run (and tied the game) on an infield single from Jake Rogers in the second inning, but the real damage occurred in the three-run third inning.

Before Jung's slide, Riley Greene demolished a middle-middle fastball from Marsh for a solo home run. The 23-year-old pulled the ball 427 feet to right field with a 112.1 mph exit velocity to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.

Greene has 24 homers in 128 games.

Tarik Skubal takes down Royals

Left-hander Tarik Skubal, the frontrunner to win the AL Cy Young Award, allowed one run on three hits and one walk with seven strikeouts across five innings, throwing 95 pitches.

All three hits occurred in the first inning.

"If he implodes in the first inning or gets too emotional or somehow isn't able to make pitches to Salvy, this game is completely different," Hinch said. "He's our guy, and we need our guy to do his part, and tonight, he did. He stayed in that fight and continued to pitch well."

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The Royals jumped out in front, 1-0, on Yuli Gurriel's hard-hit grounder that Jung couldn't stop at third base, but after that, Skubal mowed down the Royals in his final four innings.

The 27-year-old saved his best for last, striking out Pérez on a down-and-in changeup to win a seven-pitch battle and strand two runners. He roared in celebration after the strikeout.

"I was trying to avoid the big inning there," Skubal said.

Skubal leads the AL with a 2.48 ERA in 30 starts, to go with an AL-best 17 wins and 221 strikeouts.

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The Royals trimmed their deficit to 4-2 with Pérez's RBI single off right-handed reliever Brenan Hanifee in the eighth inning, but left-handed reliever Sean Guenther took over and immediately induced a double play, followed by an inning-ending flyout.

The combination of Guenther and right-handed reliever Will Vest shut down the Royals in the ninth inning, ending the game.

"I think there's full trust all the way around that we're going to go out there and execute pitches," Skubal said, "and we're going to throw the right pitch in the right count and get the right result. You can see all the young guys that are coming up and doing it and having success right away. The moment never gets too big, and it's a ton of fun to watch."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers sweep Kansas City Royals with 4-2 win, half-game back