Johan Santana of the Twins named Bank of America Presents the American League Pl

[Outdoors Junkie]

Minnesota Twins pitcher Johan Santana has been named the Bank of America Presents the American League Player of the Week for the period ending August 19th. Bank of America, the Official Bank of Major League Baseball, is the presenting sponsor of the American League and National League Player of the Week Awards, which reflect the company's long-standing tradition of recognizing achievements that inspire us all to seize opportunities to perform at our very best.
For the week, Santana went 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 15.0 innings pitched. On Sunday, the left-hander assembled one of the most dominant performances in club history. The three-time A.L. All-Star struck out a career-high 17 batters, establishing a new team record, while holding the Texas Rangers scoreless for eight innings in a 1-0 victory at the Metrodome. His 17 strikeouts broke the previous record of 15, accomplished by a Twin five times previously; the most recent was by Bert Blyleven against the Oakland A's on August 1, 1986. Santana fanned nine of the first 12 batters he faced. He surrendered only two hits in the game, both by Sammy Sosa. The sixth inning was the only frame in which Santana did not record a strike out. Joe Nathan relieved the Twins ace for the ninth and struck out two batters as the All-Star pair set a new single-game club record with 19 total strikeouts. On the season, Johan is 13-9 with a 2.88 ERA and 191 strikeouts. This marks Santana's third career weekly award.

Others receiving consideration were Seattle teammates Raul Iba?ez (.429, 1 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI) and Jose Vidro (.529, 1 2B, 6 RBI), Oakland's Jack Cust (.409, .864 SLG. 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 3 RBI) and Bobby Abreu (.375, .750 SLG, 3 HR, 6 RBI) of the New York Yankees. Kansas City's Odalis Perez (2-0, 1.80 ERA), Lenny DiNardo (2-0, 2.08 ERA) of the Athletics and Toronto's Roy Halladay (1-0, 1.50 ERA, 1-CG, 7 SO) were the pitchers who received consideration.