HOUSTON, TX - Major League Baseball announced this afternoon that second baseman Jose Altuve has been named the American League Player of the Month for July, and first baseman Yuli Gurriel has been named the American League Rookie of the Month for July.
Altuve had an historic month of July, hitting .485 (48x99) with 10 doubles, one triple, four home runs, 21 RBI and a 1.251 OPS (.523 OBP/.727 SLG) in 23 games. He led all Major League players in OPS, batting average, hits and on-base percentage during the month, while leading the AL in slugging percentage. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, Altuve's .485 batting average was the fifth-highest by a Major League player in any calendar month since 1961, trailing only Todd Helton (.512 in May 2000), Ivan Rodriguez (.500 in June 2004), George Brett (.494 in July 1980) and Wade Boggs (.485 in June 1987). It was also the fifth-highest batting average for the month of July in AL history.
Altuve posted a career-long, 19-game hitting streak (.524, 44x84) from July 2-28, which was the longest streak by an Astro since Hunter Pence had a 23-game streak in the 2011 season. During his streak, he became the sixth player in modern MLB history to record 43 hits over an 18-game span (July 4-28), joining Ichiro Suzuki and Jack Tobin, and Hall of Famers Ty Cobb, George Sisler and Heinie Manush (Elias). He also became the first player since Rogers Hornsby in 1923 to record 37 hits over a 15-game span (July 4-24). Altuve was named the AL Player of the Week for the week of July 3-9 after becoming the ninth player in Major League history to record a streak of five consecutive three-hit games.
Altuve also set a club record for batting average in a single calendar month, as his .485 batting average topped Richard Hidalgo's .476 (49x103) mark he posted in September of 2000.
During the month, Gurriel led all American League rookies in hits (28), doubles (9), RBI (20), slugging percentage (.565) and OPS (.899), while ranking tied for first in runs (15), second in batting average (.304, 28x92) and tied for third in home runs (5). He tied Lance Berkman (2000) for the franchise record for most doubles in a single month of July by a rookie.
This marks the first career monthly award for Gurriel, and the second career monthly award for Altuve, who was named the AL June Player of the Month in 2016. Altuve has three AL Player of the Week awards on his ledger: July 3-9, 2017, April 11-17, 2016 and April 28-May 4, 2015. 
The Astros have done well in the monthly awards this season, as Lance McCullers Jr. was named the AL Pitcher of the Month for June, Carlos Correa was named the AL Player of the Month for June, and Dallas Keuchel was named the AL Pitcher of the Month for April. The Astros five monthly award winners are the most in MLB this season, and tie the franchise record set in 2015 when Dallas Keuchel won three Pitcher of the Month awards (April, May, Aug.), Scott Kazmir won one Pitcher of the Month award (July) and Carlos Correa won one Rookie of the Month award (2015).
Altuve currently leads the Majors in batting average (.365) and hits (148), while ranking second in the AL in OPS (.998). Along with Altuve, an Astros player has won the July Player of the Month award four times (Jose Cruz-1984 and Jeff Bagwell-1994 & 2001).
Gurriel leads all Major League rookies in doubles with 28, which is just two doubles shy of the franchise rookie record held by Hunter Pence (2007). He is the seventh player in club history to win a Rookie of the Month award, joining Carlos Correa (June 2015), Collin McHugh (Sept. 2014), George Springer (May 2014), Hunter Pence (May 2007), Kirk Saarloos (July 2002) and Roy Oswalt (Aug. 2001).

-ASTROS-