ALEX KIRILLOFF OF THE MINNESOTA TWINS NAMED AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK PRESENTED BY CHEVROLET; AUSTIN RILEY OF THE ATLANTA BRAVES NAMED NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK PRESENTED BY CHEVROLET 

Minnesota Twins first baseman/outfielder Alex Kirilloff has been selected the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley has been named the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Kirilloff earned his first career selection and is the first Minnesota player to win the award since Byron Buxton on June 13^th of last year. Riley picked up his third career weekly honor after he previously was selected on July 11, 2022 and May 24, 2021. He is the fourth different Braves player win the award this season joining Sean Murphy (May 8^th), Michael Harris II (June 20^th) and Ronald Acuña (July 3^rd).

Alex Kirilloff_, Minnesota Twins _

• The 25-year-old hit .345 (10-for-29) with three home runs, 10 RBI, two doubles, one triple, three walks, five runs scored, a .793 slugging percentage and a 1.187 OPS.
• The Pittsburgh, PA native led the American League in total bases (23); tied for first in RBI and extra-base hits (6); tied for second in hits (10); ranked fourth in slugging and OPS; and 10^th in batting average.
• Kirilloff had four multi-hit games, including a three-hit performance against Seattle on last Tuesday when the left-handed slugger hit a home run and scored three times, tying his most this season.
• The Twins first round selection in the 2016 Draft hit home runs in back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday, and hit a home run in the first inning to finish with a season-high four RBI in Minnesota’s nine-run outburst on Friday night.

Austin Riley, Atlanta Braves (austin_riley27)

• The 26-year-old hit .400 (10-for-25) with six home runs, 16 RBI, nine runs scored, one double, one triple, a 1.240 slugging percentage and a .400 on-base percentage.
• The Memphis, TN native led the National League in home runs, RBI, total bases (31) and extra-base hits (8); ranked second in slugging; third in OPS (1.640); and tied for sixth in batting average and hits.
• A two-time All-Star, Riley matched an Atlanta franchise record with home runs in five straight games from Tuesday through Saturday, becoming the 10^th different Braves player with homers in five consecutive games.
• The 41^st overall selection in the 2015 Draft had his sixth career multi-home run game with a career-high seven RBI on July 18^th against Arizona.
• The right-handed slugger became the third Braves player with 16 RBI over a six-game stretch, tying Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews and Joe Adcock for the franchise record.

Other noteworthy NL performances last week included first baseman Freddie Freeman (.583, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 3 2B, 1 3B, 13 R, 1.167 SLG, .583 OBP) and catcher Will Smith (.462, 5 RBI, 4 2B, 6 R, .517 OBP) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; third baseman Nolan Arenado (.429, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 2 2B, 3 R, .607 SLG) of the St. Louis Cardinals; infielder Wilmer Flores (.474, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 3 2B, 5 R, 1.263 SLG) of the San Francisco Giants; outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger (.464, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 2 2B, 5 R, 1 SB, .750 SLG) of the Chicago Cubs; starting pitcher Corbin Burnes (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 8.0 IP, 13 SO) of the Milwaukee Brewers; outfielder Corbin Carroll (.273, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 1 3B, 8 R, 3 SB, .773 SLG) and infielder Ketel Marte (.400, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 2B, 2 3B, 5 R, .880 SLG) of the Arizona Diamondbacks; infielder Matt McLain (.364, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 8 R, .773 SLG, .440 OBP) and starting pitcher Andrew Abbott (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 8.0 IP, 6 SO) of the Cincinnati Reds; and outfielder Juan Soto (.300, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 2 2B, 7 BB, 6 R, .850 SLG, .481 OBP) of the San Diego Padres.

Other noteworthy AL performances for the week included outfielder Kyle Tucker (.348, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 3 2B, 4 R, .870 SLG, .400 OBP) of the Houston Astros; relief pitcher Nick Pivetta (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 G, 7.0 IP, 0 H, 14 SO) and infielder Triston Casas (.471, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 1 3B, 5 BB, 6 R, .941 SLG, .591 OBP) of the Boston Red Sox; infielder Edouard Julien (.423, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 6 BB, 7 R, .531 OBP) of the Twins; starting pitcher George Kirby (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 7.0 IP, 10 SO) of the Seattle Mariners; relief pitcher Félix Bautista (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 4 G, 3 SV, 5.0 IP, 9 SO) of the Baltimore Orioles; infielders José Ramírez (.385, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 6 R, .407 OBP) and Josh Naylor (.292, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 1 2B, 5 R, .708 SLG) of the Cleveland Guardians; designated hitter/starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani (.313, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 10 BB, 8 R, .875 SLG, .577 OBP) of the Los Angeles Angels; starting pitcher Luis Medina (1-0, 0.84 ERA, 2 GS, 10.2 IP, 12 SO) and relief pitcher Trevor May (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 G, 3 SV, 3.0 IP, 4 SO) of the Oakland Athletics; and relief pitcher Alex Lange (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 G, 3 SV, 3.0 IP, 4 SO) of the Detroit Tigers.

Electric Play of the Week presented by Chevrolet

Diving Catch and Double Play by Gunnar Henderson of the Baltimore Orioles

July 22^nd at Tropicana Field – Watch It Here

Baltimore Orioles rookie infielder Gunnar Henderson earned his first career Play of the Week Award and third by Baltimore this season, joining Cedric Mullins won the award on May 8^th and July 10^th. This marks the seventh Play of the Week Award overall for the Orioles since the award was introduced in 2019 (also Mullins in September 2021, Steve Wilkerson and Austin Hays in September 2019, and Anthony Santander in June 2019). In the bottom of the fifth inning on Saturday night against the Rays, Henderson laid out to save extra-bases and made the throw across the diamond for an inning-ending double play. The infielder also flashed the leather on Friday at shortstop, robbing Randy Arozarena of a base hit. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Sal Frelick’s leaping grab at the wall in his Major League debut; Bryce Harper’s diving catch into the camera well; Bobby Witt Jr.’s long run and diving catch in left field; Nolan Arenado’s leaping throw to first; Kevin Pillar’s sliding catch in the corner; Akil Baddoo’s home run robbery; and Jonny Deluca’s run stealing catch over the wall.