Posted by J.Y. Mortimer
Atlanta Braves All-Star Duo of Ozzie Albies, Orlando Arcia Combine for Play of the Week Honors
Germán earned his first career weekly honor and joined teammates Gerrit Cole (April 17th), Anthony Rizzo (May 15th) and Aaron Judge (May 22nd) as Yankees players to win the award this season. This marks the second time in three seasons that four different Yankees players have taken home a Player of the Week Award, and prior to 2021, it had not happened for New York since 2005. Ohtani claimed his sixth career weekly honor, and his second in the last three weeks (also June 20th). With six weekly awards, Ohtani now owns the most in Angels history, pulling ahead of teammate Mike Trout (5). Acuña Jr. won a Player of the Week for the fourth time in his career and the first since April 19, 2021 (also August 20, 2018 and April 14, 2019). He joins his teammates Sean Murphy (May 8th) and Michael Harris II (June 20th) as Braves winners this season.
Domingo Germán, New York Yankees
- The 30-year-old right-hander tossed the fourth perfect game in Yankees history on Wednesday in an 11-0 road victory over the Oakland Athletics. Germán fanned nine in the contest while hurling 99 pitches in the outing.
- He joined David Cone (July 18, 1999 vs. Montreal), David Wells (May 17, 1998 vs. Minnesota) and Don Larsen (1956 World Series Game 5 on October 8, 1956 vs. Brooklyn) as the only pitchers in franchise history to pitch a perfect game. The Yankees’ four perfect games are the most by a franchise in Major League history, ranking ahead of the Chicago White Sox (3).
- The San Pedro de Macoris native became the first Dominican-born pitcher to throw a perfect game and it marked the first perfect game overall in the Majors since Seattle’s Félix Hernández on August 15, 2012 vs. Tampa Bay.
- The historic outing marked the first complete game of Germán’s six-year career, and it was the second shutout thrown by a Yankees pitcher this season (also Cole on April 16th vs. Minnesota).
- Germán also registered the 500th strikeout of his career in the outing with his first-inning strikeout of All-Star Brent Rooker.
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels (@shoheiohtani)
- The 28-year-old, who was named to his third consecutive All-Star team as both a pitcher and designated hitter, hit .417 (10-for-24) with six home runs, seven RBI, one triple, nine runs scored, one stolen base, a 1.250 slugging percentage and a .533 on-base percentage in seven games played last week.
- Ohtani led AL hitters last week in home runs, slugging, run scored and total bases (30); ranked third in on-base percentage; and tied for fourth in batting average, hits and RBI.
- The Oshu, Japan native also won his lone start of the week on the mound, allowing one run on four hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts over 6.1 innings in a 4-2 win over the visiting Chicago White Sox last Tuesday.
- Ohtani, who was also named the AL Player of the Month presented by Chevrolet for the month of June, homered twice on Tuesday in the same game in which he started on the mound. It marked his first career multi-homer game in a contest he also started as a pitcher.
- The 2021 AL MVP registered back-to-back three-hit games on Tuesday and Wednesday against Chicago before extending his hitting streak to eight straight games with a home run on both Thursday against Chicago and Friday against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.
- Enters play today with a Major League-leading 31 home runs on the season after setting a new franchise record with 15 home runs during the month of June as he became the fourth player in AL history to do so, joining Hall of Famer Babe Ruth (1930 Yankees), Bob Johnson (1934 A’s) and Roger Maris (1961 Yankees).
Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves (@ronaldacunajr13)
- The 25-year-old hit .474 (9-for-19) with five home runs, seven RBI, one double, nine runs scored, four stolen bases, a 1.316 slugging percentage and a .600 on-base percentage, leading the Braves to victories in each of their six games, and extending the team’s winning streak to eight games overall (for a third time this season).
- Acuña, who was also named June’s NL Player of the Month presented by Chevrolet, hit safely and scored at least one run in all six games, while driving in at least one run in four contests.
- The Venezuela native slugged a leadoff homer in Tuesday’s 6-2 win over the visiting Minnesota Twins and in Saturday’s 7-0 win over the visiting Miami Marlins, extending his franchise record with 30 career leadoff homers. Since his debut in 2018, only George Springer (38) and Mookie Betts (33) have more leadoff homers.
- Enters play today with a career-best 13-game hitting streak, batting .385 (20-for-52) with six homers, nine RBI, three doubles, 15 runs scored and nine stolen bases during the stretch.
- With 21 home runs and 39 stolen bases on the season, the 2018 NL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award winner is on pace to become the first player in Major League history with at least 30 homers and 60 stolen bases in a single season.
Other noteworthy AL performances last week included first baseman Spencer Torkelson (.318, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 1 2B, 8 R, .909 SLG) of the Detroit Tigers; rookie shortstop Anthony Volpe (.522, 1 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 5 R, 1 SB, .542 OBP) of the Yankees; starting pitcher Brady Singer (1-0, 0.69 ERA, 2 GS, 13.0 IP, 8 H, 5 BB, 7 SO) of the Kansas City Royals; outfielder Kyle Tucker (.417, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 2 2B, 6 R, .750 SLG) of the Houston Astros; 2023 All-Star outfielder Luis Robert Jr. (.345, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 2 2B, 8 R, 4 SB, .724 SLG) and outfielder Eloy Jiménez (.379, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 2B, 5 R, .655 SLG) of the Chicago White Sox; starting pitcher Chris Bassitt (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 12 SO) of the Toronto Blue Jays; third baseman Rafael Devers (.435, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 4 R, 1 SB, .500 OBP) of the Boston Red Sox; 2023 All-Star fan-elected starting second baseman Marcus Semien (.393, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 2B, 5 R, 1 SB, .485 OBP) of the Texas Rangers; and infielder/outfielder Luke Raley (.333, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 2 2B, 8 R, 1 SB, .714 SLG) of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Other noteworthy NL performances for the week included 2023 All-Star fan-elected starting outfielder Mookie Betts (.474, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 5 2B, 7 R, 1 SB, 1.211 SLG, .586 OBP) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; 2023 All-Star pitcher Spencer Strider (2-0, 1.98 ERA, 2 GS, 13.2 IP, 9 H, 3 BB, 19 SO) and 2023 All-Star first baseman Matt Olson (.440, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 3 2B, 1 3B, 7 R, 1.000 SLG) of the Braves; 2023 All-Star outfielder Nick Castellanos (.346, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 3 2B, 5 R, 1 SB, .808 SLG) of the Philadelphia Phillies; outfielder Tommy Pham (.520, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 4 2B, 6 R, 1 SB, .920 SLG, .556 OBP) of the New York Mets; outfielder Cody Bellinger (.435, 1 RBI, 2 2B, 3 R, .440 OBP) of the Chicago Cubs; first baseman Carlos Santana (.440, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 3 2B, 6 R, .920 SLG) of the Pittsburgh Pirates; and starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery (2-0, 0.68 ERA, 2 GS, 13.1 IP, 8 H, 4 BB, 12 SO) of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Electric Play of the Week presented by Chevrolet
Diving Stop by Ozzie Albies and Flip to Orlando Arcia of the Atlanta Braves
June 27th at Truist Park – Watch It Here
Atlanta Braves All-Star infielders Ozzie Albies and Orlando Arcia combined to capture their first career Play of the Week Award and the first by Atlanta since Ronald Acuña Jr. on August 8, 2022. This marks the seventh Play of the Week Award overall for the Braves since the award was introduced in 2019, matching the Milwaukee Brewers for the most in the NL. In the top of the fifth inning on Tuesday night against the visiting Twins, Albies made a terrific diving play up the middle before flipping to Arcia, who fired to first to nab Max Kepler. Additional Play of the Week candidates included Francisco Lindor’s jump throw to first; Josh Palacios’ incredible leaping catch in the left-field corner to rob a home run; Max Kepler’s amazing sliding catch in the right-field corner during a one-run game in the ninth; Javier Báez’s spectacular diving stop in the hole at shortstop; Bo Naylor’s incredible spinning throw from behind the plate to catch Nicky Lopez attempting to steal second; Matt McLain’s terrific glove flip to Jonathan India, who bare-handed the ball; and Anthony Rizzo’s diving stop en route to Germán’s perfect game.
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