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Middlebrooks, Napoli share AL Player of the Week

Teammates each had four homers and nine RBIs for red-hot Red Sox

Red Sox infielders Will Middlebrooks and Mike Napoli were named the American League Co-Players of the Week on Monday, the second time this season -- and the fourth time in history -- that a pair of Boston teammates have shared the weekly award.

Middlebrooks batted .464 (13-for-28) with four homers, nine RBIs and eight runs scored over seven games, claiming his second career weekly honor. Napoli, meanwhile, led all Major League hitters with a .476 average and a 1.143 slugging percentage.

Middlebrooks, 25, led the Majors in hits and total bases (26) and tied for first in RBIs while ranking third with a .929 slugging percentage. The third baseman was tied for first in runs scored and home runs, and he placed third with a .500 on-base percentage.

Napoli, 31, matched Middlebrooks with four homers and nine RBIs while posting a league-leading .577 on-base percentage. Like his teammate, it was his second Player of the Week Award.

Napoli and right-hander Andrew Bailey were the last pair of Red Sox to take home Co-Players of the Week honors, having done so for the week ending April 21.

Middlebrooks and Napoli each doubled and homered on Wednesday, combining for six RBIs as Boston piled on 20 runs in a win over Detroit at Fenway Park. The Red Sox homered eight times in that game, their highest homer output since July 4, 1977.

Against the Yankees on Thursday, Middlebrooks went 2-for-5 with a home run and two runs scored, while Napoli chipped in two hits and an RBI in Boston's 9-8 victory. One day later, Napoli went 3-for-3 with a grand slam and a double, and Middlebrooks finished 2-for-5 with a homer and two runs scored in a 12-8 win.

They didn't let up from there, as Napoli homered twice and drove in three runs Saturday. On Sunday, Middlebrooks put the Red Sox within range of their first sweep of four games or more at Yankee Stadium in 74 years, launching a game-tying, opposite-field homer off legendary closer Mariano Rivera. New York came back to win that game, 4-3, on a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

Adam Berry is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @adamdberry.