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SEATTLE -- Give Detroit Tigers second baseman Colt Keith credit.
He owned it.
“There’s no better word for it, just kind of panicked,” Keith said after making a critical mistake in the Tigers 3-2 loss on Wednesday to the Seattle Mariners.
In the second inning, Tarik Skubal was on the mound for the Tigers. There were two outs and the Mariners had a guy on first. Skubal got J.P. Crawford to hit a harmless grounder to Keith, which should have ended the inning. All Keith had to do was flip the ball to first.
But Keith had a brain freeze. He caught the ball, spun to second, realized he couldn’t get the lead runner and then tried to get the ball to first, but it was too late.
“I tried to come in and get it with one hand, and the hop beat me,” Keith said. “I knew how many outs there were. I just opened up and for some reason, turned all the way. Just a messed-up play and it hurt us.”
That mistake haunted the Tigers immediately. On the next pitch, Victor Robles hit a ball into the left center-field gap, driving in a pair of runs, as Seattle took the early lead.
More: Detroit Tigers look like they haven't missed a beat in 2025 (despite getting beat twice)
And give Skubal credit – he owned it, too.
“You can't let outside things, things out of your control, impact who you are on the mound,” Skubal said. “You got to continue to make pitches, and I didn't make a pitch (against Robles).
"We probably don't even talk about it if I get the next guy out. So that's on me. I'll be better.”
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch didn’t feel any need to talk to Keith about it.
More: Gleyber Torres injury update: Colt Keith starts at 2B for Detroit Tigers
“He just made a mistake,” Hinch said. “He just spun and went the other way and ended up with no play. So two outs, you got to get an out. Everybody knows that.”
Keith was involved in another critical moment in the ninth inning. He drew his third walk of the game – hey, that’s a positive – and was on second base after a walk drawn by Justyn-Henry Malloy.
Dillon Dingler, who was pinch hitting for Jake Rogers, hit a ball softly to short left field.
Keith, who would have been the tying run, ventured far off second base – basically in no-man’s land.
More: Detroit Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler's growth gives team amazing luxury, advantage
If he would have just sold out and ran hard to third, he might have scored.
But he froze, afraid of getting doubled off.
And that indecision forced him to advance only to third.
“He was going to be doubled off regardless, so he got caught in between a little bit,” Hinch said. “If you're going to break, you might as well sell out and get after it. So, it wasn't a great day, but a learning lesson a couple different ways.”
More: Detroit Tigers' Justyn-Henry Malloy' takes wild trip back to majors, minors and back
Keith didn’t get a hit in his first 10 at bats against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he started seeing the ball better in Seattle, going 3-for-7.
“Seeing the ball a lot better, slowing it down,” Keith said. “The heart rate was down for sure.”
Hinch chalked up the mistakes to learning lessons.
“Obviously, they got an opening with a couple of mistakes, and they took advantage of it, and that's really the difference in the game,” Hinch said. “It is frustrating. It is a good series win.
"We'll take that and head home to the home stand. But, of course, this a game that we feel like we could have won if we do one or two more things correctly, and the score could have been different.”
Contact Jeff Seidel: [email protected]. Follow him on X @seideljeff.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers 2B Colt Keith owned mistake: 'just kind of panicked'
Continue reading...
He owned it.
“There’s no better word for it, just kind of panicked,” Keith said after making a critical mistake in the Tigers 3-2 loss on Wednesday to the Seattle Mariners.
In the second inning, Tarik Skubal was on the mound for the Tigers. There were two outs and the Mariners had a guy on first. Skubal got J.P. Crawford to hit a harmless grounder to Keith, which should have ended the inning. All Keith had to do was flip the ball to first.
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But Keith had a brain freeze. He caught the ball, spun to second, realized he couldn’t get the lead runner and then tried to get the ball to first, but it was too late.
“I tried to come in and get it with one hand, and the hop beat me,” Keith said. “I knew how many outs there were. I just opened up and for some reason, turned all the way. Just a messed-up play and it hurt us.”
That mistake haunted the Tigers immediately. On the next pitch, Victor Robles hit a ball into the left center-field gap, driving in a pair of runs, as Seattle took the early lead.
More: Detroit Tigers look like they haven't missed a beat in 2025 (despite getting beat twice)
And give Skubal credit – he owned it, too.
“You can't let outside things, things out of your control, impact who you are on the mound,” Skubal said. “You got to continue to make pitches, and I didn't make a pitch (against Robles).
"We probably don't even talk about it if I get the next guy out. So that's on me. I'll be better.”
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch didn’t feel any need to talk to Keith about it.
More: Gleyber Torres injury update: Colt Keith starts at 2B for Detroit Tigers
“He just made a mistake,” Hinch said. “He just spun and went the other way and ended up with no play. So two outs, you got to get an out. Everybody knows that.”
Keith was involved in another critical moment in the ninth inning. He drew his third walk of the game – hey, that’s a positive – and was on second base after a walk drawn by Justyn-Henry Malloy.
Dillon Dingler, who was pinch hitting for Jake Rogers, hit a ball softly to short left field.
Keith, who would have been the tying run, ventured far off second base – basically in no-man’s land.
More: Detroit Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler's growth gives team amazing luxury, advantage
If he would have just sold out and ran hard to third, he might have scored.
But he froze, afraid of getting doubled off.
And that indecision forced him to advance only to third.
“He was going to be doubled off regardless, so he got caught in between a little bit,” Hinch said. “If you're going to break, you might as well sell out and get after it. So, it wasn't a great day, but a learning lesson a couple different ways.”
More: Detroit Tigers' Justyn-Henry Malloy' takes wild trip back to majors, minors and back
Keith didn’t get a hit in his first 10 at bats against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he started seeing the ball better in Seattle, going 3-for-7.
“Seeing the ball a lot better, slowing it down,” Keith said. “The heart rate was down for sure.”
Hinch chalked up the mistakes to learning lessons.
“Obviously, they got an opening with a couple of mistakes, and they took advantage of it, and that's really the difference in the game,” Hinch said. “It is frustrating. It is a good series win.
"We'll take that and head home to the home stand. But, of course, this a game that we feel like we could have won if we do one or two more things correctly, and the score could have been different.”
Contact Jeff Seidel: [email protected]. Follow him on X @seideljeff.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers 2B Colt Keith owned mistake: 'just kind of panicked'
Continue reading...
