CINCINNATI — Detroit Tigers second baseman Colt Keith, who signed a long-term contract before his MLB debut, entered Friday's game with five home runs in his rookie season.

He upped the total by two in his 77th game.

Keith launched two home runs — his first multi-homer game — to help power the Tigers to a 5-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds in Friday's three-game series opener at Great American Ball Park. The 22-year-old has three homers in his past two games.

"It was huge to pull that one out," manager A.J. Hinch said, "given that we were in a position to win the game."

Since May 1, Keith is hitting .285 with all seven of his homers.

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The Tigers (40-48) also received key production from right-hander Reese Olson. He allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits and two walks with eight strikeouts across 5⅔ innings, throwing 88 pitches.

The Reds cut the Tigers' lead to 5-4 with one out in the ninth inning against right-handed reliever Jason Foley, thanks to Spencer Steer's infield single to score Elly De La Cruz and Nick Martini's triple off first baseman Gio Urshela's glove to score Steer.

The momentum changed when third baseman Matt Vierling threw out pinch-runner Blake Dunn trying to score from third base on a grounder from Tyler Stephenson, with catcher Carson Kelly applying the tag. Noelvi Marte hit a single to move the game-tying run to second base, but after that, Foley induced a groundout to end the game.

The ending had all the dramatics, but the Tigers' rookie hitters — Keith and Parker Meadows — stole the show early in Friday's series opener. The combination of Keith and Meadows, a pair of left-handed hitters, launched three home runs off right-hander Carson Spiers.

Meadows started the slugfest in his first game back from Triple-A Toledo, pulling an up-and-in fastball for a 410-foot home run to right field in the third inning, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

The Tigers sent the 24-year-old to the minor leagues in the first week of May because he struggled to hit fastballs. The swing adjustment Meadows made is working already.

"He was in a much different place two months ago when he was here," Hinch said. "It was good to see the work all come back to the big leagues. You don't always have to homer in your return, but when you do and contribute right away to a close win, it's got to feel pretty good."

Two batters later, Keith put the Tigers ahead, 2-0, with two outs in the third inning. He turned on a down-and-in changeup for a 413-foot home run to right-center field.

Keith wasn't done slugging.

In the fifth inning, Keith held his left arm in the air and watched the ball fly from the batter's box when he turned on a middle-in sweeper for a 415-foot home run to right, demolished with a 108.8 mph exit velocity. This time, it was a two-run homer to take a 4-0 lead.

Keith is hitting .240 with a .646 OPS in 77 games this season.

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Reese Olson battles

The Reds didn't get a hit against Olson until the fifth inning, but that first hit traveled into the left-field seats.

Olson retired the first 10 batters and faced the minimum 12 batters through four innings. A rare mistake with his slider in the fifth came back to bite him when Steer destroyed the middle-middle slider for a solo home run to left field, cutting the deficit to 4-1.

It was the first homer for a right-handed hitter against Olson in 2024.

"The slider popped," Olson said. "It spun out of my hand and didn't really have the same shape. I didn't really feel like my slider was as good as it has been, but I was able to lean on my changeup."

Olson responded by striking out the next three batters: Nick Martini (swinging strike, changeup), Stephenson (called strike, sinker) and Marte (swinging strike, changeup). Olson threw just one slider to those three batters.

The Reds scored another run in the sixth inning, but only because shortstop Ryan Kreidler bobbled a grounder and threw the ball away in an attempt to atone for his mistake with a heroic play. A runner scored from second base because of Kreidler's throwing error, making it 4-2.

Right-handed reliever Will Vest replaced Olson for a matchup with Steer. He stranded two runners in scoring position when Steer lined out to right field.

Olson generated 16 whiffs on 39 swings — a 41% whiff rate — with nine changeups, six sliders and one curveball. He leaned on his changeup in the later innings.

He owns a 3.22 ERA in 17 starts.

"I have confidence in five pitches to throw whenever," Olson said. "If I don't have great feel for one on a certain night, I have to lean on the others."

Riley Greene joins the party

Meadows and Keith crushed pitches early on, but Riley Greene — the leader of the young offense and an All-Star candidate worthy of a trip to the Midsummer Classic — crushed a pitch in the seventh inning, hitting his 17th home run (in 87 games).

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Greene turned on a middle-in slider from left-handed reliever Brent Suter for a solo home run to right field. He increased the Tigers' lead to 5-2 with the 401-foot swing.

"It's a tough combo to go through when they're both swinging the bat well," Hinch said of Keith and Greene. "Obviously, Riley has been doing this pretty much the entire year. Colt has been steadily getting better and better, and we expect him to hit in the middle of the order for a long time."

The 23-year-old also continued to delivery quality plate appearances. He went 3-for-4 with one single, one double, one home run and one walk, finishing a triple shy of the cycle. He struck out looking in the ninth inning.

Greene is hitting .266 with an .868 OPS this season.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers ride rookie homers to 5-4 win over Cincinnati Reds