After flirting with the warning track for weeks, Keith finally found his power stroke, erupting for three home runs and six RBIs to crush Houston.
For a while, Colt Keith kept putting baseballs in the air and watching them die just short of the fence.
There were plenty of long fly balls, plenty of swings that looked close, and plenty of “almost” mixed into his at-bats. Close, but no cigar, as the old baseball line goes.
Since Thursday, those fly balls have started landing on the other side of the fence.
Keith delivered the best power game of his young career Monday night at Daikin Park, launching three home runs and driving in a career-high six runs as the Detroit Tigers beat the Houston Astros, 9-3. His final line carried the night, but the context made it even more impressive. Detroit had to piece the game together after scheduled starter Troy Melton was scratched because of back tightness, turning the night into a bullpen game before the first pitch was even thrown.
The Tigers also lost Gleyber Torres early after an injury delay. Torres struck out in the first inning and was later replaced by Hao-Yu Lee, who entered as a pinch-hitter in the second and stayed in the game at second base. For a club already adjusting on the mound, losing Torres added another layer to a game that could have become awkward quickly.
Instead, Detroit stepped it up a notch.
The Tigers started the night with a gift-wrapped run in the first inning against Houston starter Kai-Wei Teng. Kevin McGonigle walked, Riley Greene walked, Dillon Dingler was hit by a pitch, and Keith was also hit by a pitch to force in McGonigle for a 1-0 lead. It was not loud contact, but it was an early run, and it set the tone for a lineup that made Houston throw pitches from the opening inning.
McGonigle added to the lead in the second with his fifth home run of the season, a solo shot to right field that made it 2-0. The rookie continues to look comfortable near the top of the order, and even on a night dominated by Keith, McGonigle again found a way to be part of the early push.
The Tigers broke the game open in the third. Riley Greene reached on a single, Dingler forced him out at second, and Keith stepped in with two outs. He drove a fly ball to right-center field for his second homer of the season, giving Detroit a 4-0 lead. One batter later, Spencer Torkelson followed with his 12th homer, a solo shot to left field that made it 5-0.
That inning was the first clear sign that Keith’s recent surge was not just one swing or one game. The ball is carrying for him now. The same contact that had been showing up as deep outs is starting to turn into damage.
Houston answered in the bottom of the third. Drew Anderson handled the opener role well early, striking out Jeremy Peña, Christian Walker and Jose Altuve in the first inning, then working around a double in the second. But after a two-out walk to Walker in the third, the Tigers went to Jacob Waguespack. Isaac Paredes greeted him with a two-run homer to left, and Altuve followed with a solo homer to left-center, trimming Detroit’s lead to 5-3.
That was as close as Houston got.
Dingler opened the fifth with a triple to right and later scored on a passed ball, stretching the lead to 6-3. From there, the Tigers’ bullpen settled the game down. Waguespack finished the fourth, Kyle Finnegan worked around a Yordan Alvarez double and a Paredes walk in the fifth, Tyler Holton handled the sixth and part of the seventh, and Will Vest helped finish the late innings.
Keith gave the Tigers more separation in the seventh. After Dingler singled to left, Keith jumped Jayden Murray for his second two-run homer of the game, this one to right field, making it 8-3.
He added the exclamation point in the ninth against Bryan Abreu, turning on a pitch and sending it over the left-field wall for his third homer of the night. That swing gave him three home runs, six RBIs and four total homers on the season.
It was also not just a bat-only night from Keith. In the seventh, he made an off-balance throw from third base to retire Christian Walker and end the inning after Houston had a runner aboard.
Detroit’s offense finished with home runs from McGonigle, Torkelson and Keith, with Dingler reaching base multiple times and scoring ahead of Keith twice. Lee also contributed after being forced into the game early, collecting two hits and stealing his first career base in the eighth.
The Tigers struck out often, but the damage was loud enough to cover it. Houston pitchers recorded 17 strikeouts, yet Detroit still scored nine runs because the walks, hit batters, extra-base hits and home runs stacked up quickly.
With Melton unavailable, Torres leaving early, and the Tigers forced into a bullpen game, Detroit still found a way to control the night. Keith made sure of it, one swing at a time.
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