Recurring Colt Keith injury fears cloud Tigers' gutty win over Royals

Tuesday night's contest represented another great win to keep the Tigers in the postseason hunt, but one Detroit player was conspicuously absent from all of the fun, as Colt Keith left the game in the bottom of the eighth and was replaced at second by Zach McKinstry.

After scoring just one run apiece through nine innings on Tuesday night in Kansas City, the Tigers and Royals took things into do-or-die extras with the tail end of Detroit's order due up. After a Kerry Carpenter ground out, Trey Sweeney — the ghost runner on second — moved to third on a balk by Royals reliever Lucas Erceg, who had thrown 18 pitches by the time he got his first out in the 10th.

The balk made the difference, because Parker Meadows hit a simple bloop to shallow left field that was enough to score Sweeney from third, but definitely wouldn't have gotten the job done if he was still at second.

Jace Jung, pinch hitting for Andy Ibáñez, battled Erceg through a nine-pitch at bat; although he eventually struck out, Erceg looked gassed through the battle. He walked Matt Vierling on four pitches before Riley Greene popped a single into center field to score Meadows. That was the moment the Royals finally took pity on Erceg and replaced him with Angel Zerpa, who got Wenceel Pérez to go down swinging.

By the end of the frame, the Tigers were up by two, and Jason Foley kept the top of Kansas City's order at bay through the end of the inning for the win. Unfortunately, despite the gritty victory that kept pace with the Minnesota Twins in the Wild Card race, focus soon turned to Keith, who pulled himself from the game when it was still deadlocked.

Colt Keith was removed from Tuesday's Tigers win over Royals with shoulder discomfort

After the game, Keith said he hurt his shoulder on a diving attempt earlier in the game and tried to grin and bear it before benching himself in the bottom of the eighth. It was the same shoulder he hurt back in June 2022 while he was in High-A; he avoided surgery, but did sit out for the rest of the season with a rehab that lasted four months. He also sat out for three games with the same issue in June of last year.

The Tigers are hopeful that it's a flash in the pan again, but he's expected to undergo testing when they return to Detroit.

Keith has been excellent for the Tigers as of late, batting .298 through his last 30 games, with two home runs and 15 RBI. In the series opener against the Royals, he hit a two-run homer in the fifth to get the Tigers within one in a game they would eventually go on to win.

Bottom line? This is a guy the Tigers definitely don't want to lose right now as they continue to fight to see October. AJ Hinch noted after the game that the Tigers would go through the requisite steps, but that he thought Keith would be okay. We certainly hope so.