Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays Named the American League Player of the Week
Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending May 12th. The announcement was made earlier today on the MLB Network.
Longoria batted .464 (13-for-28) with five doubles, three home runs, 11 RBI, eight runs scored and four walks to help guide Tampa Bay to a 5-2 record on the week and notch his sixth career weekly honor (last accomplished for the week ending August 22, 2010). Evan led all Major League hitters in RBI, total bases (27) and slugging percentage (.964), and he was tied for second overall in doubles. Amongst American Leaguers, Longoria was tied for first in homers, tied for second in runs scored, third in batting average and base hits and tied for third in on-base percentage (.531).
On Monday against the Toronto Blue Jays, the 27-year-old launched his third career grand slam, his first since May 1, 2009 against the Boston Red Sox, but the offensive highlight was not enough as Toronto stormed back from an early seven-run deficit to defeat the Rays, 8-7, at Tropicana Field. Longo's third-inning homer was Tampa Bay's first bases-loaded blast of the season. On Wednesday versus the Jays, the Downey, California native went 3-for-4 with a double, a homer and three RBI in a 10-4 victory over Toronto, giving Joe Maddon his 600th career win as a Major League manager. In Thursday's series finale with Toronto, the third overall pick of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft out of Long Beach State doubled and scored the winning run on a bases-loaded free pass to Luke Scott in the 10th inning as Tampa Bay edged the Blue Jays, 5-4. The 2008 A.L. Rookie of the Year finished the night 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, two runs scored and an RBI. In an Interleague matchup against the San Diego Padres on Saturday, the sixth-year veteran provided some walk-off fireworks of his own by following a Ben Zobrist walk with a game-winning, two-run blast into the left-field seats to give the Rays an 8-7 victory at Tropicana Field. Longoria established new club records with his fifth career walk-off homer (surpassing B.J. Upton) and his seventh career walk-off hit (passing Upton and Carl Crawford). It also marked the first time that Evan won a game for the Rays with the team trailing. On the season, the three-time All-Star is tied for second in the A.L. in total bases (86), tied for third in runs scored (28) and extra-base hits (20), is fourth in slugging percentage (.610) and is tied for fifth in homers (nine).
Other noteworthy performances included Kansas City's Alex Gordon (.393, 3 HR, 8 RBI); Minnesota's Joe Mauer (.533, 16 H, 9 2B, 10 R); Boston's Jon Lester (one-hit shutout vs. Toronto on May 10th); and Chicago's Chris Sale (1-0, 0.55 ERA, 16.1 IP, 0 BB, 12 SO, one-hit SHO with 7 SO vs. the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on May 12th).
In recognition of his American League Player of the Week Award, Evan Longoria will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.