Lucas Giolito, Manny Machado named Players of the Week presented by Chevrolet

All-Star right-hander Lucas Giolito of the Chicago White Sox, who tossed the first no-hitter of the 2020 season last Tuesday night, has been chosen the American League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet, and All-Star third baseman Manny Machado of the San Diego Padres has been named the National League Player of the Week presented by Chevrolet for the second consecutive week. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Giolito earned his second career AL Player of the Week Award (also June 3, 2019) and became the first White Sox pitcher to win multiple awards since Mark Buehrle won twice (2007 and 2009). Giolito follows his teammate José Abreu, who was last week’s AL Player of the Week. The last time the Sox had consecutive winners was in April 2012, when Philip Humber and Paul Konerko claimed back-to-back AL Player of the Week awards. Machado claimed his second consecutive weekly honor and sixth of his career. He becomes the first Padres player to win in back-to-back weeks since Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn in July 1988. Additionally, it marks the first time that the Padres have had consecutive wins since Andy Benes and Gwynn in August 1993. Machado is the first player to be honored in two straight weeks since Cleveland’s Francisco Lindor in May 2018, and he’s the first to do so in the NL since J.D. Martinez for Arizona in September 2017. Along with teammate Fernando Tatis Jr.’s win earlier this month (Auguest 9th), the Padres have claimed three of the last four NL Player of the Week awards. They are the first team to have three weekly winners in a single calendar month since the Detroit Tigers in May 2016, and the first NL team since the New York Mets in June 2006.

Lucas Giolito, Chicago White Sox (@LGio27)

• Tossed his first career no-hitter on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, yielding just a single walk while striking out 13.
• Marked the 19th no-hitter in White Sox history and the first since Philip Humber’s perfect game on April 21, 2012 at Seattle. Also marked the first at Guaranteed Rate Field since Minnesota’s Francisco Liriano on May 3, 2011 and the first by a Sox pitcher at home since Mark Buehrle’s perfect game against Minnesota on July 23, 2009.
• Became the youngest White Sox pitcher (26 years old) to throw a no-hitter since 21-year-old Wilson Álvarez on August 11, 1991 at Baltimore.
• Was his fourth career complete game and third career shutout, last doing so on August 21, 2019 at Minnesota.
• Tied a career-high with 13 strikeouts, doing so for a second consecutive start and for the fourth time in his career. The 13 strikeouts were the most in a Sox no-hitter, eclipsing Humber’s previous record of 12. Marked his ninth career outing with double-digit strikeouts and the first time since three straight contests of at least 10 strikeouts last August.
• Enters his start tonight at Minnesota with a 16.0-inning scoreless streak over his last two starts, marking the longest since his career-best 22.0-inning stretch from May 28-June 8, 2019.

Manny Machado, San Diego Padres

• Posted a slash line of .538/.519/1.000 with eight runs scored, 14 hits, one double, one triple, three home runs and seven RBI over six games.
• Collected four multi-hit games, including a four-hit game on Tuesday vs. Seattle, finishing a home run shy of hitting for the cycle.
• Went 3-for-5 with two homers, four RBI and three runs scored in San Diego’s improbable 10-7 win over the Mariners in the first game of a doubleheader on Thursday. Machado, who also homered in the second game, helped the Padres come back from a 7-3 while down to their last out with nobody on base.
• Recorded at least one hit and one run scored in a career-best 11 consecutive games from August 18th-29th.
• Enters play today riding a 12-game hitting streak dating back to August 18th. During that span, is batting .510 (25-for-49) with six homers, 16 RBI, four doubles, a triple and 16 runs scored while posting a .537 on-base percentage and a 1.000 slugging percentage.

Other noteworthy AL performances last week included All-Star first baseman Miguel Cabrera (.500, 11 H, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 1 2B) of the Detroit Tigers, who hit his 2,000th career hit as a Tiger on Sunday; outfielder Kyle Tucker (.500, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 1 2B, 2 3B, 1.286 SLG) of the Houston Astros; outfielder Randal Grichuk (.370, 10 H, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 2 2B, .778 SLG) and first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (.391, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 4 2B, .696 SLG) of the Toronto Blue Jays; and outfielder Tyler Naquin (.348, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 4 2B) of the Cleveland Indians.

Other noteworthy NL performances for the week included All-Star outfielder Andrew McCutchen (.435, 10 H, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 2 SB, 7 R, .739 SLG) of the Philadelphia Phillies; All-Star starter Adam Wainwright (1-0, 3.38 ERA, 1 CG, 16.0 IP, 13 SO) of the St. Louis Cardinals, who tossed a complete game on his 39th birthday yesterday; outfielder Jesse Winker (.333, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 2 2B, 6 R, .852 SLG) of the Cincinnati Reds; shortstop Trea Turner (.519, 14 H, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 5 2B, 1 SB) of the Washington Nationals; outfielders Jason Heyward (.421, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1.105 SLG) and Kyle Schwarber (4 HR, 7 RBI, 6 R, .667 SLG) of the Chicago Cubs; and rookie starting pitcher Sixto Sánchez, who tossed 7.0 scoreless innings, permitting six hits with a walk and 10 strikeouts in his second Major League start on Friday.

PLAY OF THE WEEK

Leaping Catch and Throw for a Double Play by Victor Robles of the Washington Nationals

August 25th vs. PHI – Watch It Here

Speedy center fielder Victor Robles of the Washington Nationals earned his second career Play of the Week honor (also June 11, 2019), joining Milwaukee’s Lorenzo Cain, who had three plays chosen in 2019, as the only players to win multiple times since the inception of the award in 2019. Along with Anthony Rendon’s award-winning play last May, the Nationals have now had three plays win overall, and are the fourth team to have three such awards, joining the Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles and Brewers. With one out in the top of the sixth inning of Tuesday’s contest against the Philadelphia Phillies, Robles sprinted back to deep center field before making a leaping catch and then firing a perfect throw to first base to complete a double play. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Randal Grichuk’s diving catch in the left-center field gap to steal an extra-base hit from Anthony Santander; Ronald Acuña’s diving grab in deep right-center field to take away an extra-base hit from Bryce Harper; Victor Reyes’ over-the-wall catch to rob Miguel Sanó of a home run; Mike Yastrzemski’s grab at the center-field wall to bring back a potential homer off the bat of Justin Turner; and Ketel Marte’s behind-the-back flip to record the force out at second base.