Nelson Cruz of the Seattle Mariners named American League Player of the Week

Seattle Mariners outfielder Nelson Cruz has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending April 19th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.

Cruz batted .500 (12-for-24) with six home runs, 10 RBI and seven runs scored over six games to earn his fourth career AL Player of the Week Award, last winning while with the Baltimore Orioles on September 7, 2014. Among AL leaders for the period, the three-time AL All-Star was first in home runs, RBI, slugging percentage (1.250), and total bases (30), tied for first in runs scored, second in on-base percentage (.556) and hits (12), and third in batting average.

On Monday against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, the 34-year-old began his award-winning week with two home runs and three RBI in a tough-luck, 10-inning loss (6-5). On Tuesday, the Mariners suffered their second consecutive walk-off defeat in as many nights, though Cruz went deep for the fourth time during the young season. The Dominican Republic native extended his home run streak to five games with another solo blast on Wednesday, but the Mariners were topped again by the Dodgers in the 2015 Civil Rights Game on Jackie Robinson Night. In Mariners franchise history, only Ken Griffey, Jr. has compiled a longer streak, when he clubbed home runs in eight consecutive games from July 20-28, 1993. The 2011 ALCS MVP did it all for Seattle on Sunday when he went 3-for-6 with a pair of home runs, while driving in five runs, including the game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Mariners an 11-10 win at Safeco Field over their AL West-rival Texas Rangers. Since April 11th, the Mariners slugger has been on a tear, batting 16-for-33 (.485) with a Major League-leading eight home runs, 14 RBI and nine runs scored, while raising his batting average from .067 to .354. Led by Cruz's recent power surge, Seattle now ranks second in the AL with 18 home runs behind only the Orioles (19). Additionally, no AL hitter has recorded more homers since July 31, 2014 than this week's Player of the Week winner (19).

Other noteworthy performances last week included Adam Jones (.520, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 6 R, .920 SLG, .519 OBP) and Zach Britton (3 G, 3 SV, 0.00 ERA, 4 K, 1 H) of the Orioles; Shane Greene (2-0, 0.60 ERA, 15.0 IP, 6K) of the Detroit Tigers; Steven Souza Jr. (.379, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 3 SB, 5 R) of the Tampa Bay Rays; Andrew Miller (3 G, 3 SV, 0.00 ERA, 9 K, 0 BB) of the New York Yankees; and Josh Donaldson (.379, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 7 R, .724 SLG) of the Toronto Blue Jays.

In recognition of his American League Player of the Week Award, Nelson Cruz will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.