Designated hitter Nelson Cruz of the Minnesota Twins has been chosen the W.B. Mason American League Player of the Week and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt of the St. Louis Cardinals has been named the W.B. Mason National League Player of the Week. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Cruz earned his sixth career AL Player of the Week Award and his first since last season for the week ending June 24th. Nelson is the third Twins player to take home weekly honors this season, joining his teammates Jake Odorizzi (May 6th) and Max Kepler (May 27th). Goldschmidt claimed his third career NL Player of the Week Award, most recently doing so last year for the period ending June 19th. Paul is the first Cardinals player this season to accomplish the feat and the first since his teammate Matt Carpenter in 2018 (August 6th).

In recognition of their Player of the Week Awards, Nelson Cruz and Paul Goldschmidt will each be awarded a specially engraved watch courtesy of Artinian.

Nelson Cruz, Minnesota Twins (@ncboomstick23)

· Posted a slash line of .414/.485/1.172 with 10 runs scored, 12 hits, a double, seven home runs, 13 RBI and three walks over seven games played.

· Homered in five straight games from July 22nd-26th, matching the franchise record shared by Brian Dozier, Marty Cordova and Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew.

· Recorded the first three-homer game of his career on Thursday. Became the ninth player in Club history (11th time), and the first since Eddie Rosario last season on June 3rd, to accomplish the feat.

· With 26 home runs on the season, joined his teammate Kepler to become the second duo in team history to reach the 25-homer threshold in 102-or-fewer team games, joining Killebrew and Bob Allison in 1959.

Paul Goldschmidt, St. Louis Cardinals

· Across seven games played, batted .345 (10-for-29) with nine runs scored, six home runs, 13 RBI, two walks and a .966 slugging percentage.

· Posted a career-best six-game home run streak from July 22nd-27th, matching the franchise record shared by Carpenter and Mark McGwire. The streak was tied for the second-longest by a right-handed hitter in MLB history, trailing only Kevin Mench, who logged a seven-game streak from April 21-28, 2006.

· During his historic streak, homered in each game of St. Louis’ four-game series against the Pirates. Became the first Cardinals player to homer in every game of a four-game set since Ripper Collins in 1935.

· Enters play today with 10 round-trippers thus far in July, which trails only Eugenio Suárez of the Cincinnati Reds for the NL lead. Overall, Goldschmidt is slashing .289/.348/.687 with 19 runs scored, 13 extra-base hits and 26 RBI since the calendar flipped to July.

Other noteworthy AL performances last week included outfielder Andrew Benintendi (.484, 9 R, 15 H, 7 XBH), All-Star designated hitter J.D. Martinez (.387, 3 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI) and starting pitcher Eduardo Rodríguez (2-0, 2.13 ERA, 12.2 IP, 11 SO) of the Boston Red Sox; second baseman Jose Altuve (.478, 11 H, 2 2B, 2 HR), All-Star starter Gerrit Cole (2-0, 1.29 ERA, 14.0 IP, 28 SO), first baseman Yuli Gurriel (.522, 12 H, 2 HR, 5 RBI) and starter Wade Miley (1-0, 1.38 ERA, 13.0 IP, 12 SO) of the Houston Astros; shortstop Didi Gregorius (.423, 4 2B, 2 HR, 13 RBI) and third baseman Gio Urshela (.435, 5 R, 6 2B, 4 RBI) of the New York Yankees; 2019 Ted Williams All-Star Game MVP presented by Chevrolet Shane Bieber (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 CG SHO, 10 SO) and infielder José Ramírez (.400, 12 R, 3 2B, 4 HR) of the Cleveland Indians; starter Iván Nova (2-0, 0.60 ERA, 15.0 IP, 9 SO) of the Chicago White Sox; relief pitcher Roenis Elías (4 G, 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 SV) of the Seattle Mariners; and Nelson’s teammate Miguel Sanó (.333, 6 R, 4 HR, 11 RBI).

Other noteworthy NL performances were starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg (2-0, 0.69 ERA, 13.0 IP, 17 SO) and shortstop Trea Turner (.367, 6 R, 11 H, 3 XBH) of the Washington Nationals; Suárez (.273, 5 R, 4 HR, 9 RBI) and outfielder/infielder Josh VanMeter (.600, 5 R, 9 H, 3 HR) of the Reds; starters Steven Matz (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 CG SHO, 7 SO) and Jason Vargas (2-0, 2.31 ERA, 11.2 IP, 13 SO) of the New York Mets; infielder Ryan McMahon (.444, 8 H, 6 RBI, 5 BB) of the Colorado Rockies; rookie shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. (.423, 11 H, 3 XBH, 4 RBI) of the San Diego Padres; outfielder Starling Marte (.367, 8 R, 11 H, 5 2B) of the Pirates; and Paul’s All-Star teammate Paul DeJong (.292, 6 R, 4 2B, 3 HR).

PLAY OF THE WEEK

Game-Sealing Diving Catch by Aaron Hicks of the New York Yankees

July 23rd at MIN – Watch It Here

Outfielder Aaron Hicks of the New York Yankees earned his first career Play of the Week honor. With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning of a topsy-turvy 14-12 game, Hicks ranged back to deep left-center field to make a fully-extended diving catch and seal the Yankees win in a thriller. Earlier, Hicks clubbed a two-run homer with two outs in the top of the ninth inning to give the Yankees a 12-11 lead. Additional Play of the Week candidates included J.P. Crawford’s backhanded stop in the hole and off-balance throw to first base to retire the batter; Zach Plesac’s diving catch in foul territory in the bottom of the sixth inning on Friday night; Dwight Smith Jr.’s leaping catch into the stands in foul territory to send Thursday night’s game into the 16th inning; Alex Verdugo’s diving catch in foul territory of a 1-0 game; and Fernando Tatis Jr.’s diving stop up the middle before firing across the diamond with a strong throw.