Minnesota Twins right fielder Michael Cuddyer and Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitkzi each belted four home runs last week and were honored as the Player of the Week in their respected leagues for the period ending September 20th.
In six key divisional games, Michael Cuddyer hit .292 (7-24) with two doubles, five runs scored, 11 RBI and an .875 slugging percentage while collecting four multi-RBI games. On September 14th, the right-handed slugger hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning to tie the game at three, the highlight of a six-run eighth in a 6-3 comeback win over the Cleveland Indians at the Metrodome. The 100th career homer milestone marked Cuddyer’s 25th of the season, surpassing his previous career-high of 24 (2006). In a critical September 19th among the A.L. Central leaders, Michael’s three-run blast catapulted the Twins to a 6-2 win over the first-place Detroit Tigers, extending Minnesota’s season-high winning streak to six games and marking his third consecutive game with a homer, the first time he has achieved that feat in his career. The 30-year-old Virginia native, who was the ninth overall choice in the 1997 First-Year Player Draft, is currently hitting .272 with 33 doubles, 83 RBI, 81 runs scored and career highs with 28 home runs and six triples. This marks the first career weekly award for the versatile Cuddyer, who has been playing first base of late in the absence of injured All-Star first baseman Justin Morneau. Other noteworthy performances included Cuddyer’s teammate Joe Mauer, who posted an A.L.-best .556 batting average and a Major League-best .667 on-base percentage. Also considered were New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira, who tied for the Major League lead with 13 hits, and a pair of backstops, Baltimore Orioles rookie Matt Wieters, who hit two homers with 10 RBI, and Kansas City Royals veteran Miguel Olivo, who led the Majors with 13 RBI and a 1.176 slugging percentage.

In six games last week, Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki tied for the Major League-lead with four home runs and eight runs scored. The 24-year-old also tied for second in the Majors with 21 total bases while posting a .391 (9-23) batting average and a .913 slugging percentage. Troy smashed home runs in four consecutive games, a new career-best streak, from September 15th-19th. The last player to homer as a shortstop in four consecutive games was Miguel Tejada of the Baltimore Orioles in 2005. On September 16th, Troy went 3-for-4 with a home run to lift the Rockies over the Giants, 4-3, helping Colorado avert a three-game sweep. Troy posted three multi-hit games this week to help the N.L. Wild Card-leading Rockies secure a 4.5 game lead by week’s end. The Long Beach State product is hitting .289 on the season with 81 RBI and has already set career-highs in home runs (29) and stolen bases (17). With a fielding percentage of .988, Troy is still vying to become the first shortstop in MLB history to hit at least 25 home runs and post a fielding percentage of .990 or better.

Other noteworthy performances included Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cliff Lee, who tossed a complete-game shutout and posted a 0.69 ERA over two starts, and Atlanta Braves first baseman Adam LaRoche, who led the Majors with a .563 (9-16) batting average. Also considered were Chicago Clubs right hander Ryan Dempster, who had a 0.56 ERA with 10 strikeouts over 16.0 innings, and Los Angeles Dodgers starter Jon Garland, who went 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA for the N.L. leaders.