Carlos Gonzalez of the Colorado Rockies named National League Player of the Week
Outfielder Carlos Gonzalez of the Colorado Rockies has been named National League Player of the Week for the period ending June 16th. It marks the fourth career weekly honor for Gonzalez (also won for the periods ending August 1, 2010; August 29, 2010; and August 28, 2011). The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
The 2012 All-Star led the Majors with a 1.095 slugging percentage while his 23 total bases were tops in the N.L. and second-most in the Majors. In six games last week, "CarGo" ranked among league leaders with three home runs (T-1st), eight RBI (2nd), a .476 (10-for-21) batting average (T-4th), 10 hits (T-5th), six runs scored (T-5th) and a .522 on-base percentage (5th). The Venezuelan-born slugger clubbed a pair of doubles and hit his sixth triple of the year while adding a stolen base to his weekly totals.
On Tuesday, Gonzalez's clutch hitting helped the Rockies notch an 8-3 win in the first game of a three-game set with the Washington Nationals at Coors Field. With the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth, Cargo gave the Rox a lead they would not relinquish, clubbing a three-run shot to deep left-center. In Friday's series-opener against Philadelphia, the 27-year-old veteran of six Major League seasons notched his 16th career four-hit game, going 4-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored as the hometown Rockies dropped the game, 8-7. Gonzalez continued to have success against Philadelphia pitching in Saturday's matchup at Coors Field, going 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a run scored. His RBI-double in his first at-bat of the day ignited a six-run first inning for Colorado on the way to a 10-5 victory. In Sunday's rubber match, the left-handed-hitting Gonzalez posted his third straight multi-hit outing, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored. His two-run homer in the eighth provided valuable insurance runs for Rockies starter Jhoulys Chacin, who out-dueled Philadelphia's Cole Hamels for the 5-2 victory. The home run was CarGo's N.L.- leading 20th of the season, marking the fourth consecutive season he has hit 20-or-more homers. In addition, it was his 28th multihit game of the season, which also leads the Senior Circuit.
Other noteworthy performances last week included CarGo's teammate, Chacin (2-0, 2.63 ERA, 5 SO, 13.2 IP); Pittsburgh's Pedro Alvarez (.300, 2 HR, 7 RBI, .700 SLG, .440 OBP) and Gerrit Cole, who, according to Elias, became the first pitcher in history to defeat two former Cy Young Award winners in each of his first two Major League starts; San Francisco's Buster Posey (.423, 11 H, 6 RBI, .615 SLG, .464 OBP); Yasiel Puig (.500, 10 H, 3 R, .524 OBP) and Clayton Kershaw (0-0, 1.29 ERA, 13 SO, 14.0 IP) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; Washington's Anthony Rendon (.500, 10 H, HR, 3 2B, .800 SLG, .524 OBP); Philadelphia's Ben Revere (.464, 13 H, 5 R, 2 SB, .464 OBP); David Wright (.476, 10 H, HR, .762 SLG, .542 OBP) of the New York Mets; and Milwaukee's Yovani Gallardo (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 9 SO, 14.0 IP).
In recognition of his National League Player of the Week Award, Carlos Gonzalez will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.