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Colt Keith doubles up on homers in Detroit Tigers' 5-4 win over Cincinnati Reds
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- Colt Keith doubles up on homers in Detroit Tigers' 5-4 win over Cincinnati Reds
CINCINNATI — Detroit Tigers second baseman Colt Keith , who signed a long-term contract before his MLB debut, entered Friday's game with five home runs in his rookie season.
He upped the total by two in his 77th game.
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Keith launched two home runs — giving him his first multi-homer game — to help power the Tigers to a 5-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds in Friday's three-game series opener at Great American Ball Park. The 22-year-old has three homers in his past two games.
Since May 1, Keith is hitting .285 with all seven of his homers.
Detroit Tigers second baseman Colt Keith (33) high fives outfielder Riley Greene (31) after hitting a solo home run in the third inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Friday, July 5, 2024.
The Tigers (40-48) also received key production from right-hander Reese Olson . He allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits and two walks with eight strikeouts across 5⅔ innings, throwing 88 pitches.
The Reds cut the Tigers' lead to 5-4 with one out in the ninth inning against right-handed reliever Jason Foley , thanks to Spencer Steer 's infield single to score Elly De La Cruz and Nick Martini 's triple off first baseman Gio Urshela 's glove to score Steer.
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The momentum changed when third baseman Matt Vierling threw out pinch-runner Blake Dunn trying to score from third base on a grounder from Tyler Stephenson , with catcher Carson Kelly applying the tag. Noelvi Marte hit a single to move the game-tying run to second base, but after that, Foley induced a groundout to first to end the game.
The ending had all the dramatics, but the Tigers' rookie hitters — Keith and Parker Meadows — stole the show early in Friday's series opener. The combination of Keith and Meadows launched three home runs off right-hander Carson Spiers .
Meadows started the slugfest in his first game back from Triple-A Toledo, pulling an up-and-in fastball for a 410-foot home run to right field in the third inning, giving Detroit a 1-0 lead.
The Tigers sent the 24-year-old to the minor leagues in the first week of May because he struggled to hit fastballs. It seems like the swing adjustment Meadows made is working already.
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Two batters later, Keith put the Tigers ahead, 2-0, with two outs in the third inning. He turned on a down-and-in changeup for a 413-foot home run to right-center field.
Keith wasn't done slugging.
In the fifth inning, Keith held his left arm in the air and watched the ball fly from the batter's box when he turned on a middle-in sweeper for a 415-foot home run to right, demolished with a 108.8 mph exit velocity. This time, it was a two-run homer, for a 4-0 lead.
Keith is hitting .240 with a .646 OPS in 77 games this season.
Reese Olson battles
The Reds didn't get a hit against Olson until the fifth inning, but that first safety traveled into the left-field seats.
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Olson retired the first 10 batters and faced the minimum 12 batters through four innings. A rare mistake with his slider in the fifth came back to bite him when Steer destroyed the middle-middle slider for a solo home run, cutting the deficit to 4-1.
It was the first homer for a right-handed hitter against Olson in 2024.
Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Reese Olson (45) pitches against the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Friday, July 5, 2024.
But Olson responded by striking out the next three batters: Nick Martini (swinging strike, changeup), Stephenson (called strike, sinker) and Marte (swinging strike, changeup). Olson threw just one slider to those three batters.
The Reds scored another run in the sixth inning, but only because shortstop Ryan Kreidler bobbled a grounder and threw the ball away in an attempt to atone for his mistake with a heroic play. A runner scored from second base on what should've been an infield single because of Kreidler's throwing error, making it 4-2.
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Right-handed reliever Will Vest replaced Olson for a matchup with Steer. He stranded two runners in scoring position when Steer lined out to right field.
Olson generated 16 whiffs on 39 swings — a 41% whiff rate — with nine changeups, six sliders and one curveball. He leaned on his changeup in the later innings.
He owns a 3.22 ERA in 17 starts.
Riley Greene joins the party
Meadows and Keith crushed early on, but Riley Greene — the leader of the young offense and an All-Star candidate worthy of a trip to the Midsummer Classic — crushed it in the seventh inning, hitting his 17th home run (in 87 games).
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Greene turned on a middle-in slider from left-handed reliever Brent Suter for a solo home run to right field. He increased the Tigers' lead to 5-2 with the 401-foot swing.
The 23-year-old also continued to delivery quality plate appearances. He went 3-for-4 with one single, one double, one home run and one walk, finishing a triple shy of the cycle. He struck out looking in the ninth inning.
Greene is hitting .266 with an .868 OPS this season.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple , Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers ride rookie homers to 5-4 win over Cincinnati Reds
