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Colt Keith finally hits first homer of year, gets pranked by Tigers
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- Colt Keith finally hits first homer of year, gets pranked by Tigers
Finally.
You could see on Colt Keith 's face that's exactly what he was thinking when he finally hit his first home run of the 2026 season and got to trot around the bases.
Keith has been virtually an every-day player for the Tigers this season, appearing in 63 of the team's first 69 games this year, counting Thursday, but had yet to hit one over the fence.
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He's had some close calls, including all the way back on April 1 when he crushed one against the Arizona Diamondbacks but got robbed by the weird outfield wall , but hadn't gotten his first homer.
That changed on Thursday, June 11, in the Tigers' series finale against the Minnesota Twins , when he connected with a pitch from right-hander Zebby Matthews and blasted a no-doubter home run to right-center field.
The ball traveled 419 feet with a 101.5 mph exit velocity and gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead over the Twins in the sixth inning.
The best part? The Tigers' dugout was in on the moment.
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Instead of going crazy and meeting Keith with high-fives and backslaps, the Tigers all sat around and ignored him like nothing happened. Keith jokingly gave out fake high-fives, before the rest of the dugout finally decided enough was enough and mobbed him in celebration.
Keith came to the Tigers out of the minor leagues as a player known for his power, but it hasn't exactly translated yet. In each of his first two seasons, Keith hit 13 home runs for the Tigers. He'll be hoping Thursday's bomb is just the start of a power surge in 2026.
Andrew Birkle is an assistant sports editor for the Free Press. Contact him via email at abirkle@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Colt Keith finally hits first home run of season in 63rd game
