Michael Young, AL Player Of The Week

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Even though it was not a successful week for the Texas Rangers, who went 3-4 on the week, it was a career week for third baseman Michael Young. 

For the second time in his career Young won the AL Player of the Week award.

In the seven games this week Young batted .500 (15-for-30) and had a .733 slugging percentage. He had two doubles, one triple, one home run, and one stolen base. 

Young scored seven times and drove in eight runs, including two with two outs.

Others considered for Player of the Week were Jack Cust (Oakland), David Ortiz (Boston), C.C. Sabathia (New York), and Brian Roberts (Baltimore).

Young won this award the first time almost exactly three years ago this week, August 16, 2006.

Young’s biggest day was Saturday in the Rangers 5-4 loss in Tampa Bay.  At the plate Young went 3-for-4 with a home run, triple, run scored, and two RBI.

His first hit, a single in the first inning, extended his hitting streak to 10 games.  It was the 19th time he has had a hitting streak of 10 or more games in his career, and that ties him for the Texas Rangers all-time record with the new teammate Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez. 

Young's hitting streak has now reached 11 games.

Later in the game Young tripled. It was his 43rd career triple, which puts him now only one behind the Rangers all-time record currently held by one of the latest Rangers Hall of Fame inductees Ruben Sierra.

The final accomplishment that Young achieved was with his third hit of the game.

It was the third straight game in which he had recorded at least three hits in a game, and the second time he had three straight games of at least three hits this season. 

The last time this happened in the American League was by Johnny Damon in 2000.

During that three-game stretch Young batted .692 (9-for-13) with a home run, triple, two doubles, a stolen base, four runs, and four RBI.

Young has not only been one of the most consistent hitters for the Rangers in the past eight seasons but has also been a catalyst for a Rangers offense that has struggled this season.

Hopefully this current hitting streak and Player of the Week award will not only increase the publicity of his MVP candidacy but also spark a Rangers offense that needs to get going for the team to make a push for the postseason.

On the year Young is hitting .329 (sixth in AL, eighth in ML) with 160 hits (third in AL and fourth in ML). He is on pace right now to surpass 200-plus hits for the sixth time in seven years.

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