Hamilton claims AL Weekly honor

May 14, 2012 - 8:01 PM New York, NY (Sports Network) - Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, who collected nine home runs and 18 runs batted in last week, has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending May 13.

Hamilton became just the 16th player in MLB history to hit four homers in a game against Baltimore on Tuesday. He finished 5-for-5 with a double; the 18 total bases set a new American League record.

The six-year veteran's eight RBI in the contest also bested his previous career-high five (three times), and the 2010 AL MVP ended the week with a .467 batting average.

For the season, Hamilton leads all major league players in batting average (.402), home runs (18), RBI (44), slugging (.866), extra-base hits (23), total bases (110), and OPS (1.321). He is also currently on a 13-game hitting streak, the second-longest of his career.

The league also identified Oakland's Brandon Inge, New York's Robinson Cano, and Minnesota's Scott Diamond as having noteworthy weeks.