Keith, Greene forming formidable 1-2 punch in heart of Tigers' order

CINCINNATI -- Colt Keith and Riley Greene have become a two-headed monster at the top of the Tigers’ lineup. They feed off each other, support each other, and as a duo are putting pressure on opposing pitchers who often face them consecutively in the second and third spots in the order.

“It’s a tough combo to go through when they’re both swinging the bat well,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “It puts a lot of pressure on the pitcher from the get-go. Riley has been doing this pretty much the whole year. Colt has been getting better and better.”

Keith recorded his first career multi-home run game, Parker Meadows homered in his first at-bat since being recalled from Triple-A and Greene fell a triple shy of the cycle as the Tigers picked up a 5-4 victory over the Reds at Great American Ball Park.

Greene and Keith were a combined 5-for-9 with three homers and four RBIs. Greene fell a double shy of a cycle on Wednesday, and was left a triple short on Friday.

“One day,” Greene said.

Keith is hitting .286 (16-for-56) since June 18. Greene wouldn’t say he’s taken Keith under his wing, but he’s enjoying watching his progress.

“It’s part of the big leagues in a sense, you’re going to succeed, you’re going to fail,” Greene said. “It shows how far he’s come as a player. The homers are a result of that.”

The Tigers also got a strong outing from Reese Olson, who retired the first 10 batters he faced before walking Elly De La Cruz with one out in the fourth. Olson didn’t allow a hit until Spencer Steer hit a slider for a solo home run to lead off the fifth, then he struck out five straight batters.

Olson also had to overcome a 26-minute delay due to heavy rain between the third and fourth innings.

“Didn’t feel like my slider was as good as it’s been tonight,” Olson said. “Flush it. Just made a bad pitch and [Steer] jumped on it. Move on. I relied more on my changeup.”

Olson (3-8) allowed two runs (one earned) over 5 2/3 innings with two walks and eight Ks.

Meadows, who returned to the Tigers on Friday after being optioned to Triple-A Toledo on May 7, worked Reds starter Carson Spiers (2-2) to a 3-2 count before launching his third homer of the season -- first since April 22 -- to put the Tigers ahead 1-0 in the third.

Meadows made the Opening Day roster for the first time in his career, but hit just .096 with 32 strikeouts in 73 at-bats. In 47 games at Triple-A, he batted .298 with eight homers and 24 RBIs.

“He was in a much different place two months ago when he was here,” Hinch said. “You don’t always have to homer when you return, but when you do and you contribute to a win, a close win, it’s got to feel great.”

The Reds picked up two runs in the ninth off Jason Foley to make it a one-run game, but with one out and a runner on third, third baseman Matt Vierling scooped up a grounder and fired a strike to the plate to throw out the would-be tying run to preserve the win.

“A couple really good defensive plays in that inning,” Hinch said. “The play by Wenceel [Pérez] in right on [Martini's] line drive, good play by Vierling, and good play by Gio [Urshela] at the end. It was huge to pull that one out.”