Ryan Raburn, Tim Hudson named MLB Players of the Week

Press Release Major League Baseball

Cleveland Indians right fielder Ryan Raburn has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending May 5th. The announcement was made earlier today on the MLB Network.

Raburn batted .591 (13-for-22) with four home runs, nine RBI, one double and five runs scored over five games to notch his first career weekly honor. He is the first Indian to garner the A.L. Player of the Week Award since Asdrubal Cabrera on April 11, 2011. Among Major League hitters for the period, Raburn led in batting average, slugging percentage (1.182) and total bases (26), was tied for first in on-base percentage (.591) and base hits, was tied for second in homers and was fourth overall in RBI.

On Monday, the 32-year-old Raburn turned in a career-high-tying four hits, including a pair of homers and four RBI as Cleveland rolled to a 9-0 shutout victory over the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. With the Indians maintaining a narrow two-run lead, the Tribe offense opened up the contest with a six-run sixth inning capped by a three-run blast to left field from the Florida native, extending Cleveland’s advantage to eight. Later in the game, Raburn connected on his second homer, this time leading off the eighth inning with an opposite-field solo shot to right. The two-homer outing was Ryan’s first since August 29, 2010 in Toronto. In an Interleague matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday at Progressive Field, Ryan launched two more long balls as part of Cleveland’s seven-homer attack in a 14-2 victory. The Tribe’s seven homers were their most ever at home and fell one shy of the franchise record of eight, set twice with the last on July 16, 2004 in Seattle. Raburn, who finished the night 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored, connected on his first round-tripper in the fifth, a two-run shot to score Jason Giambi, and was later on the front end of back-to-back homers with Drew Stubbs in the seventh frame of the blowout. Ryan, an eight-year veteran in his first season with Cleveland, became the first Tribe batter with consecutive multi-homer games since Travis Hafner on July 19-20, 2004. On Wednesday, Raburn’s bat was again on display, this time turning in a 4-for-5 performance with a double and two RBI to lead the Indians to a 6-0 shutout win over the Phillies. Over the three contests, the fifth round pick in the 2001 First-Year Player Draft (by Detroit) went 11-for-13 with four homers. According to Elias, he become just the fourth Major Leaguer since 1939 to record at least 11 hits and four homers over a three-game span, joining Hall of Famers Duke Snider (1955) and Kirby Puckett (1987), as well as two-time All-Star Shawn Green (2002). Elias also notes that Raburn is the first player since San Diego’s Kevin Kouzmanoff in August 2009 to collect 11 hits in a span of 12 at-bats.

Other noteworthy performances included the Detroit quartet of Miguel Cabrera (.423, 3 HR, 10 RBI), Prince Fielder (.333, 3 HR, 10 RBI), Max Scherzer (2-0, 2.35 ERA, 15.1 IP, 2 BB, 18 SO) and Justin Verlander (2-0, 0.64 ERA, 14.0 IP, 4 BB, 17 SO); and Mike Trout (.313, 2 3B, 3 HR, 10 RBI) of the Angels.

Starting pitcher Tim Hudson of the Atlanta Braves has been named National League Player of the Week for the period ending May 5th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.

Hudson was a perfect 2-0 last week, notching his 200th and 201st career wins to become just the 110th pitcher in Major League history to reach the 200-win threshold. He posted a 2.51 ERA, permitting four runs over 14.1 innings pitched with 13 strikeouts for the week, and ranked among N.L leaders in wins (T-1st), innings pitched (3rd) and strikeouts (T-5th). On Tuesday, April 30th, Hudson earned his 200th career victory after holding the Washington Nationals to one run on three hits across 7.0 innings of work in a 3-1 victory at Turner Field. The veteran right-hander helped his cause with the bat, going 2-for-3 with a double and a home run in the contest. According to Elias, Hudson joined Cleveland’s Bob Lemon, who clubbed a two-run homer in his 200th career win on September 11, 1956, as one of only two pitchers in Major League history who have homered in a game in which they joined the 200-win club. The Georgia native became the fifth pitcher to earn his 200th career victory in a Braves uniform, and he is one of three active hurlers who are part of the 200-win club, joining New York Yankees lefty Andy Pettitte (248) and Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Roy Halladay (201). On Sunday, Hudson held the visiting New York Mets to three runs on five hits in his 7.1 innings of work while fanning seven en route to a 9-4 victory. The Braves’ ace improved to 79-0 for his career in games where he has had a lead of five runs-or-more after his offense staked him a 5-0 advantage in the third inning. Hudson’s record currently stands at 4-1 this season, and he is tied for third among N.L. pitchers in victories. This is his third career weekly award, having won previously for the period of September 9-15, 2002 (as a member of the Oakland A’s) and April 9-15, 2007.

Other noteworthy performances last week included Colorado rookie Nolan Arenado (.357, 10 H, 2 HR, 8 RBI, .750 SLG); Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun (.448, 4 R, 13 H, 3 2B, .484 OBP) and Carlos Gomez (.462, 8 R, 12 H, 3 HR, 5 RBI, .962 SLG); Pittsburgh’s Starling Marte (.333, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 7 R, .875 SLG); Yadier Molina (.444, 12 H, .464 OBP) and Jaime Garcia (2-0, 1.13 ERA, 6 SO, 16.0 IP) of the St. Louis Cardinals; Miami’s Marcell Ozuna (.478, 11 H, 4 2B, HR, 4 RBI, .520 OBP); San Francisco’s Marco Scutaro (.500, 7 R, 9 H, .591 OBP) and Sergio Romo (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 4 SV, 5 SO, 5.0 IP); Cincinnati’s Joey Votto (.478, 11 H, 3 2B, .556 OBP) and Mat Latos (2-0, 2.45 ERA, 10 SO, 11.0 IP); Washington’s Rafael Soriano (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4 SV, 2 SO, 4.0 IP); and San Diego’s Edinson Volquez (2-0, 3.65 ERA, 6 SO, 12.1 IP).