By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Editor

Colt Keith powered his way into the Major League Baseball All-Star break on a rampage at the plate.
Now, the former Biloxi high standout hopes to continue that impressive play as the second baseman for the Detroit Tigers for the rest of his rookie season.
Keith is batting .327 with seven home runs over his past 27 games. He has reached base in 13 straight contests, and going back to May 11 Keith leads all MLB rookies with a .509 slugging percentage.
He helped the Tigers wrap up the first half of the season last weekend with a series win over the powerful Los Angles Dodgers as Detroit won the final two games.
The 22-year-old Keith went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBI in Saturday’s 11-9 extra-inning win over the visiting Dodgers at Comerica Park. He hit a two-run double in the second inning, singled in the sixth and then tied the game on a two-run home run in the ninth.

“I think I’m getting better every day,” said Keith, who has five home runs in his past 10 games. “I’m just going to keep having good at-bats and try to put the barrel on the ball. It’s one of the coolest moments yet. Playing the Dodgers, obviously got a billion dollars worth of players, and we were able to beat them with the boys here. It was fun.”
Keith might not have been that happy to reach the all-star break, as he was rolling right along in July with six multi-hit efforts, five long balls, 13 RBIs and 13 runs scored. On the year, he is hitting .253 with nine homers, 37 RBI, 35 runs scored and five steals across 313 plate appearances.
“He’s in such a good place mentally and physically,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “Most importantly, emotionally. I know from the very beginning he always thought he belonged, but you still have to prove it to the boys. You have to prove it to the fans. You got to prove it to yourself sometimes.””I know from the very beginning he always thought he belonged, but you still have to prove it to the boys, prove it to the fans and prove it to yourself sometimes, and each of these experiences is going to make him more and more settled.”

Keith got off to a pretty miserable start to begin his first campaign in the Majors, struggling mightily at times, especially over the first six weeks of play as he hit .152 (15-for-99) with zero home runs.
But he has bounced back in fine fashion since then.
“I was just trying to stay as consistent as I can with my emotions, my mechanics and my routine,” Keith added. “It’s up and down in baseball. The best players in the game stay even the whole time, so that’s what I’ve been trying to do.”
On June 24th, in an 11-2 win over the Chicago White Sox, he had four hits and missed the cycle by only a triple.
“He’s a really good hitter,” Hinch added. “It’s going to take a while (due to the slow start) for the numbers to get where they’re supposed to get, but he’s starting to put the at-bats together and starting to take a game plan that he wants into the game and not overcomplicate it. Not try to do too much, not try to make up the next at-bat because of the last at-bat. We just need him to mature and learn the league.”

Keith crushed two no-doubt home runs in a 5-4 road win over Cincinnati just over a week before the ASB also, registering the first multi-homer game of his MLB career.
“Those were the first two in the big leagues where I hit them and I knew they were going to be homers,” said Keith, who grew up less than 200 miles east of Cincinnati, in Zanesville, Ohio. “That’s a really good feeling because it means I’m behind the ball, feeling everything and more conscious of the game, instead of being sped up.”
Keith is expected to be in the starting line-up once again for the Tigers when they open the second half of the season on the road against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.