Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim named American League Player of the Week

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitcher Jered Weaver, who tossed the first no-hitter of his career on Wednesday and the second in the Majors this season, has been named American League Player of the Week in recognition of his accomplishment for the period ending May 6th. The announcement was made earlier this afternoon on MLB Network.

Weaver, a two-time A.L. All-Star, needed 121 pitches to shut down the Minnesota Twins, 9-0, in the ninth individual no-hitter in Angels history and the 10th overall. It was the first no-no for the Angels since Ervin Santana blanked the Cleveland Indians on July 27, 2011 at Progressive Field, and it was the first gem by an Angels starter at home since Mark Langston and Mike Witt combined to no-hit the Seattle Mariners on April 11, 1990. Incidentally, the Northridge, California native was involved in holding a club hitless once before when Weaver and reliever Jose Arredondo no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers over eight innings at Dodger Stadium on June 28, 2008, but lost the game 1-0 when Matt Kemp of the Dodgers reached on a fifth-inning error and came around to score on a sacrifice fly. By rule, it is not considered an official no-hitter. Heading into Wednesday’s outing, the 29-year-old had allowed just three runs in his previous three starts, all of which came in his first complete game of the season on April 21st, a 6-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles (9.0 IP, 3R, 5 H, 0 BB, 5 SO). Against Minnesota, the 6’7” right-hander threw 16 first-pitch strikes en route to a season-high nine strikeouts while issuing his lone walk to Josh Willingham in the seventh inning. The Twins’ only other baserunner came in the second when Chris Parmelee reached first base safely on a passed ball following a strikeout. The victory helped the Long Beach State product improve to 4-0 with a 1.61 ERA on the season as he extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 17 heading into today’s play. The win also gave the Angels a three-game sweep of the Twins. Combined with teammate Jerome Williams’ sterling pitching performance the night before – a complete-game, three-hit shutout in which Williams didn’t allow a hit in his final six innings of work – the Twins were held hitless for the final 15 innings of the series. This is Jered’s first career Player of the Week honor.

Other noteworthy performances last week included Williams (2-0, 1.15 ERA, 15.2 IP, 1 SHO, 10 SO); Seattle Mariners infielder Kyle Seager (.346, 1 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI) and starter Felix Hernandez (1-0, 0.56 ERA, 16.0 IP, 18 SO); Cleveland Indians infielders Jason Kipnis (.455, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 SB, .909 SLG) and Asdrubal Cabrera (.429, 3 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI); and Toronto Blue Jays right-handers Brandon Morrow (1-0, 0.00 ERA, three-hit SHO at LAA on May 3rd) and Henderson Alvarez (1-0, 0.00 ERA, six-hit SHO at LAA on May 4th). In recognition of his American League Player of the Week Award, Jered Weaver will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.