Cruz named American League Player of the Week

As he continues to pace the Majors in a number of offensive categories, the Orioles' Nelson Cruz was named the American League Player of the Week on Monday.

Cruz hit .476 (10-for-21) over his last seven games, tallying three doubles, four home runs, four walks, eight RBIs and five runs to earn his second career weekly honor (May 23, 2010 with the Rangers).

Over that span, Cruz led all Major Leaguers in slugging percentage (1.190) and was second in total bases (25). He was tied for second in the AL in average and home runs, and third in RBIs and on-base percentage (.556).

Cruz also took over the top spot among AL designated hitters in this week's voting update for the 2014 All-Star Game. Cruz (888,855) leads Boston's David Ortiz (766,631) and Detroit's Victor Martinez (625,279).

The Baltimore power hitter leads the Majors in slugging (.672), total bases (137), homers (20), RBIs (52) and fewest at-bats per home run (10.2). Cruz is second with 33 extra-base hits. He has set new O's records for RBIs through the month of May and home runs during May (13).

Cruz went 2-for-3 with a double and a home run on Tuesday, then launched a pair of solo shots in Wednesday's 8-3 loss to Milwaukee. It was his second two-homer game of the season and 12th of his career. Cruz has now homered in back-to-back games five times this season.

Cruz recorded his third multihit game in a row on Thursday, then extended his season-long hitting streak to 12 on Saturday (it was snapped Sunday).