Jayson Werth voted the Budweiser Presents National League Player of the Month for July

Washington Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth has been voted the Budweiser Presents National League Player of the Month for July. Budweiser, the official beer sponsor of Major League Baseball and sponsor for 23 of 30 MLB clubs, is also the presenting sponsor of the American League Player of the Month Award. 

In 27 games last month, Werth's 22 RBI were tied for the most in the Majors while leading the National League. The nine-year veteran also led the Senior Circuit with a .450 on-base percentage while his seven homers were tied for second. Werth ranked among league leaders with a .367 (33-for-90) batting average (2nd), a .622 slugging percentage (4th), 56 total bases (5th) and 17 runs scored (T-9th).

Werth opened the month with a season-best five-RBI performance on July 1st, going 2-for-5 with a double in the contest as the Nationals beat the Milwaukee Brewers by a score of 10-5. It marked the
first of 10 multi-hit efforts he recorded during the month. On July 10th in Philadelphia, Werth helped the Nats earn a victory over his former club with a 2-for-3 showing that included a sixth-inning home run off en route to a 5-1 win. It was his 10th homer of the season, which doubled his injury-plagued 2012 season tally of five. Werth continued to swing a hot bat through mid-July, homering in back-to-back contests on July 21st vs. Los Angeles and July 22nd vs. Pittsburgh, with both performances coming in losing efforts. The 34-year-old's 3-for-3 effort in the nightcap of a July 26th doubleheader helped the Nationals escape the day with a split against a New York Mets club that took matinee, 11-0. Werth hit a leadoff single off Mets ace Matt Harvey to start the home half of the fifth inning and came around to score, tying the game at one before third baseman Ryan Zimmerman's walk-off homer in the ninth sealed a 2-1 win for Washington. The Illinois native went 2-for-3 with an RBI in the series finale between the two clubs as the Nationals cruised to a 14-1 decision. After spending nearly the entire month of May on the disabled list with a right hamstring injury, Werth has clubbed 11 homers since returning to action on June 4th. This is his first career Player of the Month Award and it represents the first Player of the Month Award for a Washington National (since 2005). The last player in franchise history to win the honor was Vladimir Guerrero, who did so as a member of the Montreal Expos (August 2003).

Other players receiving votes included Hanley Ramirez (.365, 21 R, 38 H, 5 HR, 10 2B, 17 RBI, 3 SB, .644 SLG, .421 OBP) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; Milwaukee's Jonathan Lucroy (.333, 11 R, 30 H, 7 HR, 9 2B, 15 RBI, .667 SLG, .388 OBP); Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen (.327, 16 R, 32 H, 6 HR, 17 RBI, 5 SB, .592 SLG, .402 OBP); Arizona's Paul Goldschmidt (.295, 16 R, 28 H, 7 2B, 5 HR, 19 RBI, 2
SB, .526 SLG, .414 OBP); and Atlanta's Chris Johnson (.381, 18 R, 40 H, HR, 7 2B, 14 RBI, .404 OBP). The Budweiser Presents National League Player of the Month for July 2013, Jayson Werth, will receive a specially designed trophy, suitably engraved, in recognition of his accomplishment.