SEATTLE -- Give Detroit Tigers second baseman Colt Keith credit.
He owned it.
“There’s no better word for it, just kind of panicked,” Keith said after making a critical mistake in the Tigers 3-2 loss on Wednesday to the Seattle Mariners.
In the second inning, Tarik Skubal was on the mound for the Tigers. There were two outs and the Mariners had a guy on first. Skubal got J.P. Crawford to hit a harmless grounder to Keith, which should have ended the inning. All Keith had to do was flip the ball to first.
But Keith had a brain freeze. He caught the ball, spun to second, realized he couldn’t get the lead runner and then tried to get the ball to first, but it was too late.
“I tried to come in and get it with one hand, and the hop beat me,” Keith said. “I knew how many outs there were. I just opened up and for some reason, turned all the way. Just a messed-up play and it hurt us.”
That mistake haunted the Tigers immediately. On the next pitch, Victor Robles hit a ball into the left center-field gap, driving in a pair of runs, as Seattle took the early lead.
And give Skubal credit – he owned it, too.
“You can't let outside things, things out of your control, impact who you are on the mound,” Skubal said. “You got to continue to make pitches, and I didn't make a pitch (against Robles).
"We probably don't even talk about it if I get the next guy out. So that's on me. I'll be better.”
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch didn’t feel any need to talk to Keith about it.
