The News’ Tony Paul gives his quick takes on the Tigers’ 9-3 victory over the Astros on Monday:
One thing I loved
Colt Keith might’ve enjoyed the good-natured silent treatment from his teammates last week, after he ended a looooong long-ball drought with his first home run of the season. But he doesn’t seem to be interested in receiving any more of those.
Keith hit three more home runs Monday, giving him four in four games, after he didn’t homer in his first 62 games of 2026. The first one was a titanic blast, a 411-footer in the third inning to give the Tigers a 4-0 lead. The second one was a 344-foot shot in the seventh inning to streak the lead back to four, at 7-3. The third was an opposite-field blast, 347 feet over the high fence in left field.
It was a career-high six-RBI night for Keith, who had 10 RBIs all season coming into the game. (He also drove in a run on a bases-loaded hit by pitch in the first inning, when the Tigers, unbelievably, sent seven men to the plate and didn’t put a single ball in play — walk, strikeout, strikeout, walk, hit by pitch, hit by pitch, strikeout.)
Spencer Torkelson told me after Keith’s first homer last week that they come in bunches — he’s surely an authority here; he had a five-game homer streak earlier this season, and on Monday, he homered for the third time in four games — and, yeah, they’re coming in bunches for Keith.
He became the first Tiger to hit three homers in a game since Kerry Carpenter in June 2025, and the eighth different Tiger to accomplish it this century (Miguel Cabrera did it twice).
For good measure, Keith even made a dandy defensive play at third base to end the seventh inning.
One thing I didn’t
I don’t claim to know what the solution is. If there was an obvious solution, surely we’d have seen it. But I know this much: I’ve seen enough of the early game pinch-hits by Tigers manager AJ Hinch, especially when the pinch-hitter is Jahmai Jones, who just doesn’t have it in 2026. Pitchers have adjusted to him. He hasn’t adjusted to them.
Jones hit left-handed pitchers at a .970 OPS clip in 2025, but last time I checked the calendar (and Jones’ Baseball-Reference.com page), it’s not 2025 anymore. Yet, there he was, pinch-hitting for Kerry Carpenter in the fourth inning Monday. He struck out yet again. He hasn’t had a hit since May 26. He’s had two hits since May 5. During that stretch, he’s struck out 14 times in 42 at-bats. Jones hasn’t had an extra-base hit since May 1. He hasn’t homered since April 23. He’s a negative-1.0 WAR player who has struck out 21 times in 68 at-bats against lefties.
Hinch said recently that the Tigers still believe in Jones’ abilities, “But clearly we need production in order to continue that. … How long that lasts, I don’t know.” Jones is out of options. The Tigers must be considering others.
Three stars
(Season total in parentheses)
Dillon Dingler (20)
Kevin McGonigle (19)
Drew Anderson (3) — Five strikeouts in 2.2 innings and he didn’t allow a run while he was in the game, a not-too-shabby effort considering he was an emergency starter when Troy Melton was scratched with a back issue.
Player of the game
(Season total in parentheses)
Colt Keith (3) — His three home runs left the bat at 108.8, 102.7 and 99.6 mph.
Tigers’ uniform tracker
Next Tigers game
Game 72: Tigers at Astros, 8:10 Tuesday, Detroit SportsNet, 97.1
ICYMI: Yesterday’s Tigers recap
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Tigers, Game 72: One thing I loved, one thing I didn’t
Reporting by Tony Paul, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tony Paul, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
