The Twins big offensive output against the Detroit Tigers over the weekend has paid off for a couple of members of the team.
Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe and center fielder Danny Santana have been named the American League co-Players of the Week.
Plouffe hit .367 (11-for-30) with five doubles, two home runs, six runs and 10 RBIs. Santana hit .378 with two doubles, two triples, a home run, seven runs and six RBIs. Santana is also riding a nine-game hitting streak and has five multi-hit games over that stretch.
By winning the award the duo became:
- The second and third Twins to be honored with the award this season (Chris Colabello on April 7)
- Became the first Twins teammates to share the award since Jason Kubel and Delmon Young in 2009
- Santana became the first Twins’ rookie to earn it since Carlos Gomez in 2008
Santana and Plouffe combined to go 6-for-12 with a double, two homers, seven RBIs and six runs in the Twins rout of Detroit on Friday night.
Plouffe has already established career highs in doubles (37), triples (two), RBIs (65) and runs (57) this season.
Trevor Plouffe with his 37th double and he ties a #MNTwins record for most doubles in a season by a third baseman. Ties Corey Koskie.
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) August 24, 2014
Teammates @DannySantana39 and @TPlouffe24 share AL Player of the Week honors; Nolan Arenado reps the NL. pic.twitter.com/fZO9gNuzOn
— MLB (@MLB) August 25, 2014
Coming into the day Plouffe ranks fourth in the Majors in doubles, trailing Jonathan Lucroy’s 43, Miguel Cabrera’s 40 and Paul Goldschmidt’s 39.
“I don’t think he’s trying to not hit home runs, I think he’s just taking what they’re giving him,” said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire of Plouffe. “He’s hitting the ball the other way and into the gaps. I think Trevor has been doing fine. He’s in a race with [Eduardo] Escobar for doubles.”
Plouffe, Santana and the Twins start another seven-game road trip in Kansas City on Tuesday night.
