Edwin Encarnacion of the Toronto Blue Jays named American League Player of the Week

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending August 30th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.

Encarnacion batted .391 (9-for-23) with seven runs scored, two doubles, six home runs and 17 RBI over six games to earn his fifth career weekly honor, last winning with the Blue Jays on May 11, 2014. Edwin paced the Majors in home runs, RBI, slugging percentage (1.261), extra-base hits (8) and total bases (29).

On Saturday against the Detroit Tigers at the Rogers Centre, the Dominican Republic native went 3-for-5 with four runs scored, three home runs and nine RBI. It was his fourth multi-home run game of 2015 and the 21st of his career. Additionally, it marked his second career three-homer game, last accomplishing the feat on May 21, 2010 against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Included in his historic Saturday performance was his third grand slam of the season. The three grand slams match a single-season Toronto record, set by Carlos Delgado in 1997 and Darrin Fletcher in 2000. It was just the second time in club history that a Blue Jays player homered three times in a game with one being of the grand slam variety (Otto Velez on May 4, 1980 vs. Cleveland Indians). Moreover, the two-time AL All-Star has recorded an RBI in eight straight contests, tying the club record set by Willie Upshaw in 1983, Carlos Delgado in 2000 and 2003, and Matt Stairs in 2007. Spanning seven games from August 22nd - 29th, the 32-year-old slugger recorded 23 RBI, becoming just the second player in MLB history to ever do so. Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees also posted 23 RBI over seven contests in 1939. The nine- RBI performance in Saturday afternoon's game represents the most by any player in the Majors this season and also matches a club record, last accomplished by Roy Howell in 1977. Lonnie Chisenhall of the Cleveland Indians in 2014 was the last MLB player to do so. On Sunday, in the final game of the series with Detroit, Encarnacion connected with his 30th round-tripper of the 2015 campaign, 11 of which have come in August, to mark his fourth consecutive 30-homer season. He now has 35 RBI this month, breaking the Blue Jays record he shared with Carlos Delgado, who had 34 in June 2003. Sunday's two-hit performance also extends his current, career-high hitting streak to 25 games, the longest streak in the Majors this season and the longest by a Blue Jay since Scott Rolen in 2009 (25).

Other noteworthy performances last week included Mike Moustakas (.423, 4 2B, 2 HR, 10 RBI) of the Kansas City Royals; Didi Gregorius (.455, 10 H, 2 HR, 10 RBI) of the Yankees; Kyle Seager (.300, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 22 TB) of the Seattle Mariners; Derek Holland (1-0, 2.40 ERA, 1 CG, 1 SHO) of the Texas Rangers; Joe Kelly (2-0, 1.84 ERA, 14.2 IP, 6 SO) of the Boston Red Sox; and Detroit's Justin Verlander (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 CG, 1 SHO), who carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning of his August 26th start against the Los Angeles Angels. In recognition of his American League Player of the Week Award, Edwin Encarnacion will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.