Keith homers as Tigers spilt doubleheader with Pirates

DETROIT -- Colt Keith thought he had fought off a high fastball from Pirates reliever Isaac Mattson to keep his at-bat alive.

“I thought it was going to get foul,” Keith said. “I don’t know, this ballpark’s weird, man. I haven’t figured it out yet. For some reason, it just stayed there and went all the way.”

While the ball carried down the left-field line, Keith ran down the first-base line. The ball never drifted foul, staying along the line until it carried over the left-field fence and into the Tigers bullpen, just over the 342-foot marker near the corner.

“I didn’t even know it was a homer,” Keith said. “I was just running. I was just trying to stay on top of it and I just spun it well.”

The call from Tigers television broadcaster Jason Benetti reflected equal parts astonishment and adrenaline.

“An oppo explosion from Colt Keith,” Bennetti described it.

Keith made the obligatory point to the bullpen, then grinned as he rounded third base.

“His face says it all,” manager A.J. Hinch said, “so go get a snapshot of that.”

With that game-tying two-run homer, the Tigers had turned their meeting with Paul Skenes into a battle of bullpens. They ended up losing in 10 innings, 8-4, to leave town with a doubleheader split, but they showed again how difficult of a matchup they can be for opponents, even great ones like Skenes.

“We had to work pretty hard to get Skenes out of the game,” Hinch said. “He survived a couple of hard-hit balls, he mixed in some walks, he missed bats. He had a game as advertised, and we hung in there until we could break through against their 'pen. That was a nice jolt for our dugout to get back in the game and have a chance to win.”

The Tigers faced a 4-0 deficit and a dialed-in Skenes through three innings, seemingly headed for a doubleheader split after their 9-2 win behind Tarik Skubal in Game 1. Gleyber Torres’ two-run double off Skenes halved the gap in the fifth inning, keeping the Tigers within striking distance once the Pirates went to the bullpen.

Trey Sweeney’s one-out double off Mattson in the seventh brought up Keith as the potential tying run. Mattson put him in a 0-2 count and coaxed him to chase a high fastball well out of the zone. Keith not only swung, he connected for his fifth homer of the season.

At 4.22 feet above the ground, the 94 mph fastball was the highest pitch hit for a home run by a Tiger since pitch tracking began in 2008 and tied for the second-highest pitch hit for a homer in the Majors this season.

“It was just trying to get on top of it,” Keith said. “He has a really good heater and good ride on it, so my whole goal was to get on top of it.”

The nightcap to the doubleheader lasted 3 hours and 7 minutes, not including the 75-minute rain delay when the heavens opened on a tie game in the bottom of the ninth with Jake Rogers at the plate in a 1-2 count.

“I kind of would’ve liked to finish my at-bat,” Rogers joked. “I think everyone was kinda surprised when they did it. When I hit the foul ball, I think everybody kind of had trouble finding it. When I went back up to the plate, I asked [plate umpire] Dexter [Kelley] if I could just go to 3-0 or 3-1 and call it even, but he wasn’t having it.”

The Pirates pulled ahead for good on a close play at the plate to begin the 10th. Kerry Carpenter made a strong throw home on Ke’Bryan Hayes’ pinch-hit single off Brant Hurter, but Kelley ruled that pinch-runner Tommy Pham got in just ahead of the tag. After a replay review, the call stood, and Hinch was immediately ejected for arguing.

“At that moment of the game, I think the first call is as important as the call to New York,” Hinch said. “When you say it stands, it’s like making no call to either affirm or take it away. That brings a lot of frustration. They showed it on the big board. I’ve got to defend my team.”