Brad Miller named the American League Player of the Week
Seattle Mariners infielder Brad Miller, who was promoted to the Majors on June 28th, has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending July 21st. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
Miller batted .385 (5-for-13) with two home runs, seven RBI, four runs scored and three walks over three games to claim his first career weekly honor. It is the first A.L. Player of the Week Award for the Mariners this season, and the first since Felix Hernandez was tabbed for the week ending August 19, 2012. In addition, Miller is the first Seattle rookie to take home a Player of the Week Award since Ken Griffey, Jr. for the week ending April 30, 1989. Among Major League hitters, Brad was tied for first in homers and was second in RBI. In the Junior Circuit, he was tied for first in runs scored and tied for third in walks and total bases (11).
The 23-year-old opened the second half of the 2013 season with an offensive flurry in a July 19th contest with the Houston Astros, going 3-for-5 with two home runs, five RBI and a walk to lead the Mariners to a 10-7 victory at Minute Maid Park. The lefthanded-hitting Miller's first blast of the night, and also the first of his career, came in the sixth inning when he drove a 2-0 pitch deep into the second deck in right field to score Mike Zunino and extend the Mariners lead to 6-2. Later on in the eighth, the Orlando, Florida native followed a pair of leadoff walks with a three-run blast to give Seattle a comfortable 9-3 lead in the eventual win. Miller became the second Mariner this season to record a multi-homer effort for the first two home runs of his career, following fellow rookie Nick Franklin's two homers on May 30th in San Diego. Additionally, the Clemson University product became the first player in Mariners history and the 22nd in Major League annals (dating back to 1916) to notch a pair of games with at least four RBI in the first 17 games of a career. He joins Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig as the only rookies to accomplish the feat this season. After walking and scoring a run in a 4-2 Mariners triumph over the Astros on Saturday, Miller recorded his second multi-hit outing of the weekend on Sunday with two run-scoring singles as Seattle defeated Houston, 12-5, to win their sixth straight game and complete their second consecutive three-game sweep after the M's swept the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim from July 12th-14th. Since making his debut, Seattle's second round pick in the 2011 Draft has batted .270 (20-for-74) with five doubles, two triples, two homers, 14 RBI, 12 runs scored and 10 walks in 19 games, including seven multi-hit efforts.
Other noteworthy performances over the weekend included Houston's Brandon Barnes (5-for-5, hit for the cycle on July 19th vs. Seattle); Jonny Gomes (.364, 2 HR, 4 RBI) of the Boston Red Sox; Alex Rios (.500, 1 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI) of the Chicago White Sox; and Bartolo Colon (1-0, shutout victory with 5 SO on July 21st at the Los Angeles Angels) of the Oakland Athletics.
In recognition of his American League Player of the Week Award, Brad Miller will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.