Matt Carpenter saw his streak of consecutive games with a homer come to an end at six on Sunday against the Cubs, but that was just about all that went wrong for the Cardinals slugger in a record-setting week that saw him and Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor recognized as the National League and American League Player of the Week presented by W.B. Mason.
During his historic tear, Carpenter was 9-for-17 (.529) with six homers, two doubles and three walks in the Cardinals' five-game series in Chicago, giving him an otherworldly 1.706 slugging percentage for the week. He became the first Cards player to homer in six straight games of one season and the first player in Major League history to homer six times in a series at Wrigley Field.
The week was highlighted by a 5-for-5, seven-RBI game on Friday in which Carpenter became the second player in Major League history to hit three homers and two doubles in a game.
"It's really hard to put into words what is happening," Carpenter said after Saturday's game. "I've felt like this before, in the sense that I feel comfortable at the plate and I'm swinging at good pitches and my swing feels like it's where it needs to be. Obviously, I've never had a stretch like this. It's hard to put into words."
Carpenter, who was edged by Brewers first baseman Jesus Aguilar in the 2018 Camping World MLB Final Vote, earned his third NL Player of the Week Award, and first since June 2016.
In the AL, Odor became the first Ranger to garner Player of the Week honors in 2018 after posting three consecutive multihit games for the first time since September 2016 in Texas' series against the Indians to open the second half.
The 24-year-old second baseman homered and drove in three as part of a 3-for-3 afternoon in the Rangers' 5-0 win over Cleveland in Sunday's series finale. Odor posted a slash line of .615/.571/.846 for the week and stole three bases in as many games after having swiped only five bags before the All-Star break.
"I've been feeling better at the plate," Odor said on Sunday. "I've just been working hard in practice, just getting focused a lot. I think that's why I'm feeling better in the game."
Odor received Player of the Week honors for the third time in his career. He joins Yankees rookie Gleyber Torres as the only AL second basemen to be recognized this season.