Here’s the release from the Boston Red Sox about Dustin Pedroia being named the AL Player of the Month for July:
Second baseman Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox has been voted the Budweiser Presents American League Player of the Month for July. Budweiser, the official beer sponsor of Major League Baseball and sponsor of 24 of 30 clubs, is also the presenting sponsor of the National League and American League Player of the Month Awards. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
Pedroia batted .411 (46-for-112) with nine doubles, one triple, eight home runs, 22 RBI and 27 runs scored in 26 games during July to win his first career monthly award and the second straight for the Red Sox after Adrian Gonzalez took home honors in June. Among Major League leaders (minimum 84 plate appearances), the three-time All-Star finished first in batting average, hits, slugging percentage (.723) and total bases (81), was tied for first in runs scored and extra base hits (18), was second in on-base percentage (.465), was tied for second in home runs and was tied for sixth in RBI.
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Pedroia’s 46 hits were the most for a Red Sox player in the month of July since 1939 when Hall of Famers Bobby Doerr (52), Ted Williams (48) and Jimmy Foxx (47) each collected more (Elias Sports Bureau). In addition, his eight homers last month were the most by a Red Sox second baseman in July since Felix Mantilla had 10 round trippers in 1964. Overall, the Arizona State University product has 15 home runs on the season, just two shy of his career-best mark of 17 set in 2008 when he was the A.L. Most Valuable Player, an All-Star and a Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award winner. In a July 8th matchup against Baltimore, the 27-year-old launched a solo home run and scored three runs as the Red Sox topped the O’s, 10-3. It was the first of four straight multirun games for Dustin, tying a career-best mark previously set during his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2007. Two days later, the California native helped the Sox complete a four-game sweep of the Orioles with a double, a homer and three runs scored as Boston edged Baltimore, 8-6. The triumph secured the Red Sox first place in the A.L. East heading into the All-Star break for the sixth time in seven seasons.
On July 26th, Pedroia collected a season-high four hits, including a double, a triple, one RBI and three runs scored as Boston outlasted the Kansas City Royals, 13-9, at Fenway Park. Pedroia, a second round pick in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft, enjoyed an A.L.-best and career-long 25- game hitting streak from June 29th-July 28th, batting .404 (44-for-109) with nine doubles, a triple, nine homers and 20 RBI over the stretch. It was the longest run by a second baseman in franchise history, surpassing Del Pratt’s 23-gamer in 1922.
Among others receiving votes was Pedroia’s teammate Jacoby Ellsbury (.382, 8 HR, 22 RBI); Texas Rangers infielder Michael Young (.390, 11 2B, 20 R, 20 RBI); Minnesota’s Michael Cuddyer (.336, 6 HR, 25 RBI, .545 SLG); and Oakland Athletics designated hitter Hideki Matsui (.369, 3 HR, 22 RBI, .449 SLG).
The Budweiser Presents American League Player of the Month, Dustin Pedroia, will receive a specially designed trophy, suitably engraved, for his accomplishment.
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