Matt Holliday of the St. Louis Cardinals named National League Player of the Week

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday has been named the National League Player of the Week for the week ending August 31st. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.

Holliday paced the Majors with 13 RBI during the last week of August and led the Senior Circuit with four home runs, 24 total bases and a .889 slugging percentage. The veteran slugger hit .370 (10-for-27) in seven contests last week and tied for fourth in hits among N.L. batters while his five runs scored were tied for sixth in the League.

Holliday plated the game-winning runs in all three of the Cardinals' wins last week. On Monday, his two-RBI single in the top of the seventh gave the Cardinals a lead they would not relinquish in an eventual 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. The 34-year-old slugger's three-run, fifth-inning homer proved to be the difference on Saturday in Game 2 of a doubleheader with the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium. Holliday clubbed a second home run in the eighth inning of that contest for good measure, giving him his 19th career multi-homer game. He finished the nightcap 2-for-2 in three plate appearances with a season-high five RBI. The Oklahoma native capped the strong week with a 3-for-4 effort in Sunday's series finale against the Cubs, clubbing his 16th home run of the season and collecting four RBI en route to a 9-6 victory. His 81 RBI on the season lead the Cardinals and are tied for fifth in the N.L., while his 21 game-winning RBI rank first in the League. This is his seventh career weekly award (also: 7/30/2005, 9/25/2006, 7/29/2007, 9/16/2007, 4/13/2008 with COL and 6/20/2010 with STL).

Other noteworthy performances last week included Pittsburgh's Josh Harrison (.417, 3 R, 10 H, 2 HR, .833 SLG, .440 OBP) and Mark Melancon (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4 SV, 4.0 IP); San Francisco's Angel Pagan (.367, 7 R, 11 H, 2 SB), Hunter Pence (.520, 13 H, 6 RBI, .581 OBP), Buster Posey (.423, 6 R, 11 H, 10 RBI, .846 SLG, .423 OBP) and Madison Bumgarner (2-0, 0.60 ERA, CG, SHO, 15.0 IP, 20 SO); Jorge Soler (.533, 8 H, 3 HR, 7 RBI) of the Chicago Cubs; Miami's Jarred Cosart (2-0, 0.61 ERA, 14.2 IP, 9 SO); and Colorado's Tyler Matzek (2-0, 1.29 ERA, 14.0 IP, 11 SO).

In recognition of his National League Player of the Week Award, Matt Holliday will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.