PHOENIX — Detroit Tigers rookie Colt Keith scored from second base on Javier Báez’s single to snap the 20-inning scoreless streak in Friday’s 13-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, but to do that, he first had to get on base in the second inning.

Keith smacked a two-strike changeup from right-hander Ryne Nelson into center field for a single.

It was his first of four hits.

“I felt like I finally loosened up,” said Keith, who hadn’t produced more than two hits in a single MLB game before his first four-hit game, in his 37th big-league game. “I let my muscles, my swing, my work just take over. I feel like I’ve been tense the whole season, and today was a big step in the right direction. I’m loosening up and getting my timing, and I feel like I had really good bat control. It was a really good day.”

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Keith finished 4-for-5 with four singles, playing a key role in Friday’s pummeling of the Diamondbacks at Chase Field. He drove in two runs, but he also led the Tigers by scoring three times.

His batting average in 2024 jumped from .171 to .197.

“These guys are putting in a lot of work,” manager A.J. Hinch said, “and they’re taking a lot of questions about their offense, about our offense. Guys want to see results, too. They will trust that the process is right, and they’re doing the work and their routines, and all the things are going to lead to better times, and then they want to see it in the game.

“Especially for Colt. These are all new. He’s never been at this ballpark. He’s never played at this level. He’s arguably never struggled. I think him seeing some hits fall should do a lot for his confidence going into tomorrow.”

The 22-year-old, who signed a six-year contract extension before his MLB debut, has 24 hits, 21 strikeouts and 10 walks in his 133 plate appearances. He has a long way to go until he gets those numbers where he wants them to be, and he remains in search of his first home run (after hitting 27 in the minors in 2023), but his 16.4% strikeout rate indicates quality plate appearances, with a steady approach despite the lack of results.

He makes contact at a high rate when he swings at pitches inside the strike zone.

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The difference between his .192 batting average against fastballs and .317 expected batting average against fastballs — as well as his .212 slugging percentage on fastballs compared his .563 expected sluggging percentage — describes him as an unlucky hitter, suggesting better times are coming soon.

Eventually, Keith will hit for contact and power.

He hit .306 last season in 126 games with Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo.

“I’ve been getting more and more comfortable every day,” Keith said. “The last couple games, I feel like the nerves are starting to calm down, and I’m not getting these in big situations anymore. Today, I came out and I felt like normal. I wasn’t stressing about things I can’t control. I just went out there and made sure my timing was on time. I felt good, felt loose and got some hits.”

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The hits didn’t stop after the second-inning single.

Keith, a left-handed hitter, connected with an inside cutter from Nelson for an RBI single in the third inning. He was trying to for a flyball, but instead, he shot the ball down the first-base line, past the diving first baseman and into right field.

“I was actually trying to hit it in the air,” Keith said. “I was a little late, but luckily, I was trying to hit it in the air. If I had the timing had before, I would’ve gotten jammed, probably a broken bat. But I was able to get out in front. I ended up hitting it on the ground, not doing what I’m supposed to do, but I got a base hit.”

It’s about time Keith had a little luck on his side.

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He continued to pile on, hitting another outside changeup from Nelson — just like the hit in the second inning — for an RBI single in the fifth inning and hitting an outside sinker from right-handed reliever Matt Bowman in the sixth.

Keith didn’t carry the Tigers, as there were six players with multiple hits, but the first four-hit performance of his career was part of a crucial team breakthrough on offense following back-to-back shutouts by the Miami Marlins at Comerica Park.

“It’s definitely great,” Keith said. “I feel like today was a good start to get in a groove and keep playing.”

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

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Authorities are testing DNA on a severed arm that was found on Illinois shoreline and led authorities to notify the family of Sade Robinson, who was murdered in early April.

Waukegan, Illinois authorities discovered the limb on the evening of May 11 and sent DNA samples to what they described as a neighboring state’s department’s crime laboratory. Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday they would not be able to identify whose body the arm belongs to until DNA results are returned.

The Milwaukee sheriff’s office confirmed that Waukegan authorities reached out to them regarding the limb.

Robinson, 19, was killed and dismembered in early April following a first date with 33-year-old Maxwell Anderson, according to prosecutors. Anderson pleaded not guilty to the charges and the next hearing is scheduled for July 12.

“We are aware of the case in Milwaukee, however until DNA evidence comes back we cannot say the arm belongs to their victim of that horrible crime that occurred there,” a Waukegan Police Department spokesperson said in an email.

Waukegan is in Lake County, Illinois, about an hour south of Milwaukee and its eastern border touches Lake Michigan. The city’s police have no cases that correlate with missing body parts, the spokesperson said.

The department is waiting on DNA testing results to determine whether they need to conduct an independent investigation.

The Lake County Coroner’s Office said in a media release that a walker discovered the arm on May 11 at the Waukegan Municipal Beach in the evening. In the release, the office said it was a right arm and believed to be from a woman.

The coroner’s office said a forensic anthropologist will now examine it and likely confirm the victim’s gender and age range.

“The coroner’s office is working to identify the victim currently. The coroner’s office is working closely with a police department in a neighboring state on an on-going investigation in that jurisdiction,” the coroner release said.

On Thursday, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office said they notified Robinson’s family after Waukegan authorities reached out to them.

The May 11 limb discovery follows other, confirmed human remains of Robinson’s that have been found in the Milwaukee County area. The first, a leg, was discovered at Warnimont Park in Cudahy on April 2. More body parts believed to be Robinson’s have been discovered in the days after.

Robinson’s family has not held a proper funeral, as all of her body has not been discovered. A memorial service was held last week. She was described as “special” and “remarkable” by attendees and speakers.

Her murder has also prompted politicians to call for creating a task force for missing and murdered Black women and girls.

Traffic deaths in Minneapolis fell for the third straight year in 2023, but they’re still well above pre-pandemic levels, according to newly released city data.

The number of crashes has fallen significantly, though, as have the numbers of pedestrians and cyclists struck, so what’s the reason for the increased deaths?

Speeding, officials suspect.

By the numbers

In 2023, 21 people died in crashes on Minneapolis streets, including pedestrians, cyclists, bikers and drivers. That figure doesn’t include collisions on freeways or those involving intentional crashes or medical emergencies.

In 2022, there were 22 fatalities and 23 in 2021. But those totals were notably higher than the three years before the COVID-19 pandemic, when annual traffic fatality totals ranged from nine to 14.

The data was presented to a City Council committee Thursday as an annual update to Minneapolis’ Vision Zero program. The initiative has sought to reduce traffic deaths by tracking data and installing hundreds of curbs, humps, plastic barriers and other methods to separate vehicles from less-protected travelers and force vehicles to slow down, especially in areas known to have frequent, serious crashes.

More than numbers

Reading the names of all 23 people killed last year, Vision Zero program coordinator Ethan Fawley choked up.

“These are totally unacceptable, and we have to do better as a city,” he said.

Among them were lives lost in two tragedies on Lake Street, which Fawley said was the “highest-injury street in the state.”

In June, five young women who had just left Karmel Mall after having henna applied for a friend’s wedding were killed when a driver ran a red light at 95 mph and struck their car. Sabiriin Ali, 17; Sahra Gesaade, 20; Salma Abdikadir, 20; Sagal Hersi, 19; and Siham Adam, 19, were killed. Derrick John Thompson, then 27, was charged with 10 counts of criminal vehicular homicide. His case is pending.

In October, Annalee Wright was killed while crossing the street with her two children, ages 14 and 6. She pushed them out of the way of a car driven by a 23-year-old man with a learner’s permit, police said. The children survived. The next day, Wright received her Ojibwe spirit name, Biiwaabik Ikwe, or Iron Woman.

Caused by speeding?

Cautioning that every crash is unique, Hawley said it’s difficult to say for certain what’s behind the higher level of deaths since the pandemic. But speeding seems like a prime suspect — especially because the total number of crashes has fallen notably.

When 2023 is compared with the 2016-2019 average, the number of total collisions has fallen 48%, and the number of crashes involving bicycles and pedestrians is down 35%. Yet, the number of severe crashes has risen 13% during that same period.

In the past three years, the percentage of fatal crashes that “clearly involved speeding” has remained above 50%, while the highest that rate reached before 2020 was 43%.

The data tracks with statewide and national trends that showed roads in Minnesota and the rest of the U.S. became more deadly during the pandemic, as motorists drove faster and were thought to have become more reckless. Fatality rates continue to fall, but transportation officials have been frustrated that they remain above pre-pandemic levels.

When City Council members asked Hawley if new traffic obstructions — especially plastic posts called “bollards” that are seen by many as unsightly — are working, he said the city needs more time to generate several years of data to be able to answer that.

Nonetheless, his office supports using them because anecdotally they appear to help, and they’re far less expensive than more permanent changes to streets.