Colt Keith is youngest Tiger with 3-HR game since ... Mr. Tiger!

HOUSTON – Career night? You could say that.

Colt Keith hit three homers and drove in six runs Monday night as the Tigers beat the Astros, 9-3, in the opener of a three-game series at Daikin Park.

At 24 years and 305 days old, Keith became the second-youngest Tiger to log a three-homer game. Only Hall of Famer Al Kaline, who was 20 years, 119 days old when he homered three times on April 17, 1955, was younger.

For Keith, who didn’t hit his first home run of the season until Thursday in Minnesota, homers two, three and four were the result of what he described as “grinding in the cage” over the last couple months.

Keith, who drove in the game’s first run when he was hit by a Kai-Wei Teng pitch with the bases loaded in the first inning, took Teng deep for a two-run homer in the third. That blast to right field, with an exit velocity of 108.8 mph, came off an 84.2 mph sweeper from Teng.

After striking out against A.J. Blubaugh – one of 18 K’s for Tigers batters on a night they also hit five home runs – Keith connected on Jayden Murray’s 88.3 mph changeup for a two-run homer to right in the seventh. Keith capped his night by going the other way with Bryan Abreu’s 86.1 mph slider and depositing it in the Crawford Boxes in left field in the ninth.

Keith, now slashing .267/.311/.390 for the season, said being able to hit home runs off three breaking pitches is the result of improved timing on fastballs.

“Being on time for the fastball is for me when I get the most adjustable [to other pitches],” he said. “I’m not leaving my back hip. I’m not trying to get so far on time that I’m leaping toward the pitcher. Just kind of stable in my legs and able to get to 97 [mph] but also able to keep the hips back and turn on a changeup, and tonight was a great example of that.

“I was seeing it really well today," Keith said. "I was on time for the heater, was seeing spin, was seeing the seams on the baseball, and I felt like I was in a great spot all day. I just want to re-create that, do that tomorrow, and get consistent with that swing. Seeing it well enough to be able to hold the hips back and see that slider away [from Abreu] and just throw [the bat] that way and hit it hard that way means I’m in a good spot.”

Keith also has been putting in a lot of pregame work in acclimating himself to third base, which he played for the 32nd time in 2026 on Monday. It showed when he backhanded a ball deep past the third-base line, ventured into foul territory, and threw out Christian Walker to end the seventh inning. It was easy to miss the fact that Keith tripped after making his long throw.

“I tripped on the grass – I think everybody was watching the ball when I threw it – and felt super unathletic,” Keith said. “But I feel like I’m getting better every day. I’m working over there a ton, working on my mechanics and doing whatever I can to help the team over there. I just want to keep getting better every day.”

“It’s really cool to see what he did today,” said Tigers shortstop Kevin McGonigle, who also homered while going 2-for-3 with two walks. “Everyone knows he has that in him.”

Manager A.J. Hinch saw something else he liked from Keith.

“I love when he smiles on the field,” Hinch said. “He’s so serious, but I know he got to a couple balls tonight and got rewarded for it.”

Hinch acknowledged the oddity of hitting five home runs and striking out 18 times in the same game. By the end of the fourth inning, Detroit had fanned 11 times but also gone deep three times, with Spencer Torkelson following Keith’s first home run with a solo shot of his own.

“I’d rather make contact and win like that – punch out that much – than make a ton of contact and lose,” Hinch said. “Baseball’s funny. It’ll show you things you’ve never seen before.”