For the third straight week, a member of the Boston Red Sox has won the American League Player of the Week honors. Here’s the release from MLB:
Boston Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending June 12th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
In six games, Ellsbury batted .467 (14-for-30) with three doubles, one home run, four RBI and 10 runs scored on his way to earning his first career A.L. Player of the Week honor and the third in as many weeks for the Red Sox. Teammates Carl Crawford (week ending May 30th) and David Ortiz (week ending June 6th) each captured the award the previous two weeks. The fifth-year veteran led the A.L. in runs scored and hits, was tied for second in stolen bases (2), was third in batting average and was tied for fourth in on-base percentage (.500) and total bases (20).
On June 7th at Yankee Stadium, Ellsbury led off with a home run and later doubled as the Red Sox topped the Yankees, 6-4, in the opener of a three-game set. It was his fourth career leadoff home run and his first since September 26, 2008. On Thursday, the 23rd overall pick of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored as the Red Sox defeated the Yankees, 8-3, sweeping their rivals for the second time in 2011.
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Boston has won eight of nine games this season against the Bronx Bombers, with Ellsbury hitting .371 (13-for-35) with four doubles, one home run, six RBI and seven runs scored against the Yanks this season. On June 10th, the Madras, Oregon native went 3-for-5 with a double and three runs scored as Boston topped the Blue Jays, 5-1, at the Rogers Centre. It was ninth time this season that Ellsbury has collected at least three hits in a game. On Sunday, the Oregon State University product singled twice and scored three runs as the Red Sox defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 14-1, extending their current winning streak to nine games and completing their third consecutive sweep.
Ellsbury is in the midst of a 10-game hitting streak, batting .429 (21-for-49) with four doubles, one home run, six RBI and five stolen bases over the stretch, and has recorded multiple hits in six consecutive games. He has hit safely in 16 of his last 17 contests. Heading into play today, the 27-year-old leads the A.L. in stolen bases (24), is second in hits (84) and doubles (21), third in runs scored (49), sixth in batting average (.318) and 11th in on-base percentage (.376).
Other noteworthy performances from this past week include Ellsbury’s Red Sox teammates Adrian Gonzalez (.364, 4 2B, 10 RBI), David Ortiz (.320, 4 HR, 13 RBI) and Jon Lester (2-0, 2.57 ERA, 13 K); Yankees designated hitter Jorge Posada (.611, 11 H, .611 SLG, .600 OBP); Detroit Tigers outfielder Brennan Boesch (.419, 13 H, 3 HR, 7 RBI, .806 SLG); Chicago White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko (.393, 4 HR, 7 RBI, .857 SLG); and Minnesota Twins starting pitchers Scott Baker (2-0, 2.25 ERA, 16.0 IP, 1 CG, 12 K, 0 BB) and Francisco Liriano (1-1, 0.69 ERA, 13.0 IP, 16 K, carried no-hitter into 8th inning vs. Texas on Sunday).
The winner of the American League Player of the Week, Jacoby Ellsbury, will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.
Photo credit: AP Photo
