Scherzer, Benintendi named Players of Week
Royals outfielder Andrew Benintendi was nearly unstoppable at the plate, while Dodgers ace Max Scherzer was nearly perfect on the mound. For their outstanding efforts, they were selected as the American and National League Player of the Week Award winners presented by Chevrolet on Monday.
Benintendi batted .500 (14-for-28) and drove in an MLB-best 14 runs during his seven-game week. That was highlighted by his two-homer, five-RBI performance during a Royals 6-4 victory in Minnesota on Friday. It was the second time in three days that Benintendi had driven in five runs in a game.
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Benintendi is the second Royal to earn Player of the Week recognition this season. Catcher Salvador Perez was named the AL recipient for the week ending on Aug. 29.
Scherzer continued to dominate for the Dodgers as he struck out 22 batters with no walks across two starts (16 innings) last week. He capped it off with some history, becoming the 19th pitcher to record 3,000 strikeouts, while also flirting with a perfect game against the Padres on the same day.
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Scherzer has greatly strengthened his position in the NL Cy Young Award race since debuting for Los Angeles on Aug. 4. He has gone 6-0 in his eight starts, with an 0.88 ERA, a .158 opponents batting average and a 72-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 51 innings. He hasn’t allowed an earned run in his past 29 2/3 innings pitched.
This is the sixth time Scherzer has earned Player of the Week honors in his career.