Keith's clutch HR sets up Urshela's walk-off knock

DETROIT -- The “Let’s Go Dodgers” chants grew loud around Comerica Park, amplified by a bevy of fans traveling to see the Dodgers’ star-studded lineup. They were having a blast Saturday afternoon, having watched Shohei Ohtani’s 200th career home run, and they were waiting for the exclamation point on another Los Angeles victory with a five-run lead in the ninth.

It was a road show that the Tigers turned into a trap.

“We’re a really scrappy team,” said Colt Keith, whose two-run homer punctuated a ninth-inning comeback before Gio Urshela’s 10th-inning homer completed an 11-9 Detroit victory. “We have a lot of ninth-inning wins this year. We never gave up. Even falling down 9-4, I feel like there was no change, no falter there. Everyone was going in, trying to have a good at-bat. That’s what we did. I feel like there was no change, no falter there.”

They did it against a team that had been 48-0 when leading after eight innings.

“That’s pretty cool,” Zach McKinstry said. “Now [48] and one.”

Even for this team, it was a big ask. The Tigers have 20 comeback wins this season, and 10 when trailing after six innings. This was their second when trailing after eight. Their largest comeback in a win this season had been three runs, but they’d done it five times.

Detroit is a scrappy team in part because of its youth. Five of the Tigers’ seven unanswered runs were scored or driven in by rookies.

The hits came so quickly that the task became less daunting in a hurry. Rookies Wenceel Pérez and Justyn-Henry Malloy singled off just-recalled rookie reliever Ricky Vanasco, Matt Vierling poked a double just inside the left-field line to drive both home two pitches later, and suddenly the Tigers had the potential tying run on deck as manager Dave Roberts turned to closer Evan Phillips.

“All that energy, everybody just contributing,” McKinstry said.

Phillips nearly quieted it all by retiring Riley Greene and striking out Jake Rogers, but Carson Kelly’s two-out single brought Vierling home and Keith to the plate as the tying run.

While everybody became wrapped in the moment, Keith thought back to Friday night. He pinch-hit in the series opener against Phillips, who threw him back-to-back cutters, one over the middle of the plate that Keith fouled off before flying out off a sinker.

“I feel like he’s like 70 percent first-pitch cutters,” Keith said. “I told [hitting coach Michael Brdar], ‘I’m gonna pull it.’ And he threw one in.”

The resulting 364-foot drive would’ve been a home run in 10 Major League parks. Comerica Park was one.

The crowd, minus Dodgers fans, went wild.

“Glad for the Tigers fans that showed up, bought tickets,” Keith said. “I’m sure it was hard to get, but we were able to show out for them.”

He wasn’t done. When Freddie Freeman scorched a ground ball up the middle at 101.4 miles per hour with the bases loaded in the 10th, Keith raced to cover second base as McKinstry made a diving stop. Freeman bolted down the line at 28.0 feet per second, his second-fastest speed down the line this season according to Statcast, but McKinstry’s flip from the ground and Keith’s quick turn denied the Dodgers a go-ahead run.

“I couldn’t believe that Zach got to that ball,” Keith said. “Right before the play happened, he said if it’s hit to him to get to second.”

With that, the Tigers could manufacture a winning run in the bottom of the inning. Pérez bunted automatic runner Ryan Vilade to third base, leaving Urshela needing only a fly ball.

“I went back to tag, honestly,” said Vilade, who hit his first Major League home run in the fifth inning. “And then it was 20 feet past left field.”

It was a comeback that left the normally eloquent manager A.J. Hinch nearly at a loss for words.

“I don’t know how to appropriately comment on that game,” Hinch said, “other than it’s an amazing feeling to see the guys happy. What a comeback, on both sides of the ball. We were under so much pressure the entire game.”

That Keith and the other rookies held up under pressure is a big sign.

“I think I’m getting better every day,” Keith said. “I’m just going to try to keep having good at-bats, try to put the barrel on the ball. That’s one of the coolest moments yet. The Dodgers have a billion dollars worth of players, and we were able to beat them with our boys here.”