Abreu, Seager share AL Player of Week Award

White Sox rookie first baseman Jose Abreu and Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager slugged their way to co-American League Player of the Week honors.

Abreu batted .310 (9-for-29) with five home runs, eight runs scored and an .862 slugging percentage while leading the AL with 14 RBIs. Abreu is the first White Sox player to be named Player of the Week since Alejandro De Aza earned it for the week of July 8-14.

Abreu, 27, leads the Majors with 10 homers and 31 RBIs and has set Major League rookie records for the most homers and RBIs through April. On Sunday, he broke a tie for the latter record with Albert Pujols, who drove in 27 runs in April 2001.

Abreu homered in back-to-back games Tuesday and Wednesday in Detroit, put together his third multihomer game of the season Friday while driving in a career-high six runs -- four of them on a game-ending grand slam -- and homered with four RBIs on Sunday against the Rays.

"Yes, I am surprised," Abreu said Sunday through interpreter and White Sox manager of cultural development Lino Diaz. "I didn't have these expectations, especially with the cold weather, the way it is right now. But once again, I've got to thank God. It's God's gift, and we'll continue to do it.

"You know, I go to the field to play baseball, help the team. I really don't go looking for records, but they're definitely welcome."

Seager, meanwhile, has seemingly snapped out of an early season slump. Seattle's third baseman hit .409/.458/1.091 with five homers, 11 RBIs and eight runs last week, boosting his average to .228 from .158 on April 21.

Seager has put together four straight multihit games, a stretch that includes two multihomer games. On Wednesday, he hit two homers, including a walk-off three run shot in the Mariners' 5-3 win. He did it again Sunday against the Rangers, launching a homer in the seventh inning and a go-ahead, three-run blast in the eighth as the Mariners won, 6-5.

"I've been able to do some good work in the cages with [hitting coach Howard Johnson] and [manager Lloyd McClendon] and everybody, so it's been positive," Seager said Saturday. "It's felt good for the last week or so. Sometimes you're feeling good and you don't get the results you want, but it's starting to feel better for sure."