Texas Rangers infielder and designated hitter Michael Young and Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw has been named the American League and National League Players of the Week for the period ending June 26th. In six games, Young batted .481 (13-for-27) with three doubles, four home runs, nine RBI and five runs scored on his way to earning his third career A.L. Player of the Week honor. The 12-year veteran paced all of baseball with a 1.037 slugging percentage and 28 total bases, was tied for first in hits, and was second in batting average and third in RBI. In addition, Young tied for the A.L. lead in home runs. In an Interleague matchup with the in-state rival Houston Astros on June 21st, the California native went 3-for-5 with a solo home run to help guide the Rangers to a 5-4, 11-inning victory at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. His second-inning shot was part of a four-home run barrage by Texas, the seventh time this season Texas has clubbed four-or-more homers in a game. In two starts last week, Kershaw was a perfect 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA while leading the Majors with 22 strikeouts, 18.0 innings pitched and two complete game performances. Kershaw allowed only eight hits and a single walk on the week while giving up just two earned runs. On June 20th, the 23-year-old dazzled in his first Interleague start of the 2011 campaign, two-hitting the Detroit Tigers in a complete-game shutout at Dodger Stadium. Kershaw struck out 11, walked one and threw 112 pitches for his second shutout of the season while helping his cause with a two-run, eighth-inning single in the Dodgers’ 4-0 win. The Texas native continued his Interleague dominance on Sunday, June 26th, going the distance against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in a 3-2 win in the final game of a three-game set at Chavez Ravine. Making his 100th-career start, the youngster struck out 11 batters for the second time during the week while holding Halo batters to two earned runs over his 9.0 innings of work.

James Shields of the Tampa Bay Rays (AL), Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers (AL) and Justin Upton of the Arizona Diamondbacks (NL) have been named the Players of the Week for the period ending June 19th. In two starts last week, Shields went 2-0 with two complete games, one shutout and 15 strikeouts on the way to winning his second weekly award this season, previously accomplishing the feat on April 25th. On Tuesday, the California native tossed a five-hit shutout as the Rays topped the streaking Boston Red Sox, 4-0, at Tropicana Field. Shields struck out five and walked three in notching his fourth complete game and third shutout of the season, both new career highs. The victory halted a nine-game winning streak for the first-place Red Sox, with Shields becoming the first pitcher since Jim Abbott in 1989 to halt a Boston winning streak of that length with a shutout. On Sunday, the 29-year-old continued his mastery over the in-state rival Florida Marlins with his Major League leading fifth complete game as the Rays defeated the Marlins, 2-1, in St. Petersburg. Shields allowed one unearned run on four hits with 10 strikeouts. In two starts against Florida this season, the sixth-year veteran is 2-0 with two complete games, one shutout, 23 strikeouts and one walk. In a pair of starts, Verlander matched Shields with two complete games and one shutout en route to a 2-0 record with a Major League-leading 17 strikeouts to capture his fourth career weekly award and second of the season, previously winning co-honors with Francisco Liriano on May 9th. On Tuesday, the Virginian spun a two-hit shutout as Detroit defeated the Cleveland Indians, 4-0, at Comerica Park. The Tigers ace carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning before Orlando Cabrera broke up the bid with a one-out single to center field. The second overall pick in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft struck out a season-high 12 batters and issued just one free pass for his second shutout this year. In his first career start in Colorado on Sunday, the 28-year-old was again dominant as the Tigers downed the Rockies, 9-1. Verlander scattered four hits and struck out five as he recorded his career-high-tying fourth complete game of the season, and the first by an opposing hurler at Coors Field this year. In seven games last week, Upton led the Majors with 16 hits and a .552 (16-for-29) batting average while ranking second in the N.L. in total bases (23), third in on-base percentage (.563) and tied for third in RBI (seven). The Virginia native ranked fifth in the N.L. with a .563 slugging percentage, and added one home run and four doubles. The first overall pick of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft added four runs scored to his weekly totals and swiped two bases. On Thursday, June 16th against the San Francisco Giants, Upton hit his first-career walk-off home run to give the D-backs a 3-2 win over the defending World Series Champions at Chase Field. The game-winning homer was Upton’s fourth walk-off RBI of the season, which is tops in the Majors and tied for the franchise mark set by Alex Cintron in 2005. The right-handed-hitting slugger logged the third of his four three-hit performances this week on Friday, June 17th, as the Diamondbacks took the first game of the weekend’s Interleague matchup with the White Sox, 4-1.

Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder and Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury have been named the National League and American League Players of the Week, respectively, for the period of June 6-12, 2011. In seven games last week Fielder hit a National League leading .500 (10-for-20) and led the Majors with six home runs, a 1.500 slugging percentage, a .643 on-base percentage and 30 total bases while tying for the lead in RBI with 13. The 27-year-old's seven walks ranked second in the N.L. while his seven runs scored were tied for second in the league. Fielder had four multi-hit performances and homered in five of the Brewers' seven games this week. On June 8th, Fielder went 2-for-3 with two home runs and four RBI, his second four-RBI game of the week. In six games, Ellsbury batted .467 (14-for-30) with three doubles, one home run, four RBI and 10 runs scored on his way to earning his first career A.L. Player of the Week honor and the third in as many weeks for the Red Sox. Teammates Carl Crawford (week ending May 30th) and David Ortiz (week ending June 6th) each captured the award the previous two weeks. The fifth-year veteran led the A.L. in runs scored and hits, was tied for second in stolen bases (2), was third in batting average and was tied for fourth in on-base percentage (.500) and total bases (20). On June 7th at Yankee Stadium, Ellsbury led off with a home run and later doubled as the Red Sox topped the Yankees, 6-4, in the opener of a three-game set. It was his fourth career leadoff home run and his first since September 26, 2008.

For Edgar Renteria, as well as most Giants fans, his three-run homer off Cliff Lee in the World Series clincher last fall is a moment to be cherished forever. Renteria now has the ring that will remind him of that night. Renteria, the 2010 World Series MVP, was given his championship ring before his first game in San Francisco since helping the Giants win it all last fall.

Tim Lincecum joined an elite group Monday night when he struck out Washington's Jerry Hairston Jr. to end the second inning. Hairston became Lincecum's 1,000th career strikeout victim, making San Francisco's two-time Cy Young Award winner the eighth pitcher to record 1,000 strikeouts in his first five seasons in the Major Leagues. "I'm one of his victims," teammate Miguel Tejada said. "He's struck me out more than a few times. That's pretty impressive to achieve a number like that in so little time."

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson and Mets infielder Justin Turner have been voted the May recipients of the American League and National League Rookies of the Month Award, respectively. Hellickson, who was also named the A.L. Pitcher of the Month for May, went 4-1 with a 1.36 ERA over five starts during the month. The 24-year-old right-hander led all Major League rookies and tied for fourth overall in the Majors for victories during the month. Hellickson’s 1.36 ERA, which ranked second among starters in the Majors behind Boston’s Josh Beckett (1.00), is the second-lowest May ERA in Tampa Bay Rays club history behind Scott Kazmir (1.22 in 2008) and the third-lowest ERA of any month in club history. In 33.0 innings, Jeremy permitted six runs (five earned) on 19 hits with 15 walks and 23 strikeouts while holding opposing batters to a .168 mark. Turner batted .325 (27-for-83) in May with one home run and 20 RBI, which ranked first among Major League rookies. The Cal-State Fullerton product added eight doubles and nine runs scored with two stolen bases while posting a .378 on-base percentage and a .458 slugging percentage. The 26-year-old second baseman compiled a career-best eight-game hitting streak from May 13th-21st, including three consecutive multi-hit games on May 15th at Houston, May 16th vs. Florida and May 18th vs. Washington. Turner, who is the first Met to win N.L. Rookie of the Month honors since the award’s inception in 2001, set a Mets rookie record with an RBI in seven straight contests (12 total RBI) from May 14th-21st.

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson and Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens have been voted the American League and National League Pitchers of the Month, respectively, for May. Hellickson, who was also named the American League Rookie of the Month for May, compiled a 4-1 record with a 1.36 ERA in five starts, leading all Major League rookies in wins for the month and finished tied for first among all A.L. pitchers. His 1.36 ERA was third-best in the league and was the second-lowest May ERA in franchise history, trailing Scott Kazmir’s 1.22 ERA in 2008. It is the third-lowest ERA of any month in club history, trailing only Kazmir and Matt Garza (1.27 in August 2010). In six May starts, Jurrjens went 5-1 and was tied for the Major League-lead in wins. The Curaçao native’s 43.2 innings pitched were the second-most in the National League, while his 1.65 ERA was the second-lowest among N.L. starters. The 25-year-old gave up just six free passes on the month while striking out 24 batters. Jurrjens tossed 7.2 innings, permitting just two runs on May 2nd against Milwaukee to earn his first victory of the month as the Braves downed the Brewers, 6-2, at Turner Field.

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista and Cincinnati Reds right fielder Jay Bruce have been voted the American League and National League Players of the Month, respectively, for May. Bautista batted .360 with four doubles, 11 home runs and 23 RBI in 23 games in May to win his second consecutive A.L. Player of the Month honor and the fourth of his career. Despite missing five games due to neck spasms, Bautista led the A.L. in home runs for the fifth straight month dating back to July 2010. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last player to lead a league in home runs (outright or tied) for five consecutive months was Jimmie Foxx, when he led the A.L. in homers from June 1933 to April 1934. In 28 games this past month, Bruce had a Major League-best 12 home runs and 33 RBI, while leading the National League in runs scored (23), slugging percentage (.739) and extra-base hits (19). Bruce's 38 hits were tied for third among National Leaguers and his .342 (38-for-111) batting average was tied for fourth. The Texas native’s home run and RBI totals were the highest in a calendar month by a Reds batter since Adam Dunn’s 12 long balls in July 2008 and Greg Vaughn’s 33 RBI in September 1999.