Detroit’s winning streak ended with a 4-0 shutout loss to Seattle at Comerica Park, the same Mariners team that beat them in the 2025 AL Division Series. After Keider Montero plunked Josh Naylor in the shoulder, Colt Keith said Naylor has shown “borderline dir
For the third consecutive morning of tension building into a baseball game, Detroit’s clubhouse had one moment it couldn’t brush past.
On Saturday afternoon at Comerica Park, the Tigers’ winning streak ended with a 4-0 shutout defeat at the hands of the Seattle Mariners—the same club that knocked them out in five games in the 2025 American League Division Series.
The loss itself was heavy: Detroit fell to 26-39, while Seattle improved to 34-31. But it was the pitch that sparked the argument, and then the answers afterward. Tigers pitcher Keider Montero hit Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor in the shoulder. sending him to first base with what Detroit players clearly viewed as a sign of added heat.
Colt Keith didn’t fully flip the switch into a straight accusation. Still, he made the point he wanted made. Keith said he believes Naylor has been guilty of “borderline dirty baseball” at times in his career. even as he acknowledged why the Mariners first baseman can be valued by the people around him.
“You like him if you’re his teammate. and you hate him if you’re the other team. ” Keith said via Evan Petzold on X. “I’ve seen him do some questionable, borderline dirty baseball stuff, but I think he plays hard. He’s just trying to get in our heads. I don’t think Keider (Montero) hit him on purpose, but obviously, he brings a little bit more intensity.”.
Detroit manager A.J. Hinch took a different route when asked about the moment. He didn’t see the situation as crossing a line.
“I don’t think anything was that egregious,” Hinch said via MLive. “I didn’t expect anything to come of it, really, either way. It’s amazing nowadays with small, little things that happen, 99% of that stuff’s (unintentional) and it just sort of looks like it’s intentional. Players play.”
What makes the exchange linger is the contrast: Keith pointed to a pattern of “borderline dirty” behavior in Naylor’s past. while Hinch insisted the Montero incident itself didn’t look overtly deliberate. And both took place in the same place—under the bright. unsteady spotlight of a rivalry that already has recent history.
The Tigers and Mariners are set to settle the series on Sunday afternoon at Comerica Park.
Detroit Tigers Seattle Mariners Colt Keith Josh Naylor Keider Montero A.J. Hinch Comerica Park MLB AL Division Series 2025 plunked