Press Release Major League Baseball
Cleveland Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis and starting pitcher Corey Kluber have been named the American League Co-Players of the Week for the period ending June 16th. This is the first weekly honor for both players as they become the third and fourth members of the Indians to be tabbed A.L. Player of the Week this season, joining teammates Ryan Raburn (period ending May 5th) and Justin Masterson (period ending May 19th). The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
Kipnis batted .524 (11-for-21) with two doubles, one home run, four RBI and five runs scored in six games over the week, topping the Major Leagues in batting average and on-base percentage (.593), and ranking second in the A.L. in hits and sixth in slugging percentage (.762). On the mound, Kluber went 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA, 11 strikeouts and three walks in 16.0 innings over a pair of starts. He led the Majors in innings pitched and was tied for first overall in wins.
On June 11th, the 27-year-old Kluber held the Texas Rangers to one run on six hits with three strikeouts over 8.0 innings and Kipnis added a base hit and a run scored as the pair guided the Tribe to a 5-2 victory at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, snapping an eightgame losing streak for the Indians. Kluber, an Alabama native who played high school baseball in nearby Coppell, Texas, reached a season high in innings over the 104-pitch outing and halted a personal four-start winless string. On Wednesday, the 26-year-old Kipnis went 3-for-5 with a double and a home run as the Indians topped the Rangers, 5-2. The Illinois native notched the first of two Cleveland runs in the fifth frame with his ninth homer of the season. After an off-day on Thursday, the Indians returned home and used some lateinning heroics on Friday to defeat the Washington Nationals, 2-1, at Progressive Field. With Cleveland’s Drew Stubbs representing the winning run on third base in the home half of the ninth inning, the left-handed-hitting Kipnis ripped a sharp, one-out grounder to the firstbase side as Stubbs beat Adam LaRoche’s throw home to give Cleveland their third straight victory. On Sunday, Kluber returned to the bump and held the Nationals offense at bay over 8.0 shutout innings, scattering seven hits with eight strikeouts and no walks as Cleveland blanked Washington, 2-0. The Stetson University product improved to 5-4 on the season. On the offensive side, Kipnis, who hails from Arizona State University, went 1-for-1 with two walks, a sacrifice fly and a run scored as he extended his season-long hitting streak to 10 games (.432, 3 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI during the string) with a sixth-inning single in the effort.
Other noteworthy performances included Adam Dunn (.389, 4 HR, 8 RBI) of the Chicago White Sox; Matt Joyce (.385, 4 HR, 5 RBI) of the Tampa Bay Rays; and Aaron Harang (1-0, two-hit shutout with 10 SO vs. Houston on June 11th) of the Seattle Mariners.
Outfielder Carlos Gonzalez of the Colorado Rockies has been named National League Player of the Week for the period ending June 16th. It marks the fourth career weekly honor for Gonzalez (also won for the periods ending August 1, 2010; August 29, 2010; and August 28, 2011). The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
The 2012 All-Star led the Majors with a 1.095 slugging percentage while his 23 total bases were tops in the N.L. and second-most in the Majors. In six games last week, “CarGo” ranked among league leaders with three home runs (T-1st), eight RBI (2nd), a .476 (10-for-21) batting average (T-4th), 10 hits (T-5th), six runs scored (T-5th) and a .522 on-base percentage (5th). The Venezuelan-born slugger clubbed a pair of doubles and hit his sixth triple of the year while adding a stolen base to his weekly totals.
On Tuesday, Gonzalez’s clutch hitting helped the Rockies notch an 8-3 win in the first game of a three-game set with the Washington Nationals at Coors Field. With the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth, Cargo gave the Rox a lead they would not relinquish, clubbing a three-run shot to deep left-center. In Friday’s series-opener against Philadelphia, the 27-year-old veteran of six Major League seasons notched his 16th career four-hit game, going 4-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored as the hometown Rockies dropped the game, 8-7. Gonzalez continued to have success against Philadelphia pitching in Saturday’s matchup at Coors Field, going 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a run scored. His RBI-double in his first at-bat of the day ignited a six-run first inning for Colorado on the way to a 10-5 victory. In Sunday’s rubber match, the left-handed-hitting Gonzalez posted his third straight multi-hit outing, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored. His two-run homer in the eighth provided valuable insurance runs for Rockies starter Jhoulys Chacin, who out-dueled Philadelphia’s Cole Hamels for the 5-2 victory. The home run was CarGo’s N.L.- leading 20th of the season, marking the fourth consecutive season he has hit 20-or-more homers. In addition, it was his 28th multihit game of the season, which also leads the Senior Circuit.
Other noteworthy performances last week included CarGo’s teammate, Chacin (2-0, 2.63 ERA, 5 SO, 13.2 IP); Pittsburgh’s Pedro Alvarez (.300, 2 HR, 7 RBI, .700 SLG, .440 OBP) and Gerrit Cole, who, according to Elias, became the first pitcher in history to defeat two former Cy Young Award winners in each of his first two Major League starts; San Francisco’s Buster Posey (.423, 11 H, 6 RBI, .615 SLG, .464 OBP); Yasiel Puig (.500, 10 H, 3 R, .524 OBP) and Clayton Kershaw (0-0, 1.29 ERA, 13 SO, 14.0 IP) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; Washington’s Anthony Rendon (.500, 10 H, HR, 3 2B, .800 SLG, .524 OBP); Philadelphia’s Ben Revere (.464, 13 H, 5 R, 2 SB, .464 OBP); David Wright (.476, 10 H, HR, .762 SLG, .542 OBP) of the New York Mets; and Milwaukee’s Yovani Gallardo (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 9 SO, 14.0 IP).
