Luis Matos

Giants' Matos named NL Player of the Week after historic performance

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SAN FRANCISCO -- After Luis Matos followed a huge Friday night performance with an even bigger game on Saturday, Giants manager Bob Melvin called it "Player of the Week stuff." Melvin was right. 

On Monday, Matos was named the National League's Player of the Week, becoming the first Giant to win the award since Brandon Belt in 2018. He joined Aaron Judge, the AL Player of the Week, in being honored. 

In six starts, Matos went 10-for-26 with two homers, three doubles and 16 RBI. He drove in 11 of those runs during a historic two-day run over the weekend, leading the Giants to their first sweep of the season. 

"I just look for a good pitch to hit," Matos said on Saturday. "I'm not the one in the stress situation. It's the pitcher, the one that's trying to get me out, so I have the upper hand in trying to get a good pitch to hit. The most important thing is to continue supporting the team and just put in my little bit to win."

Player of the Week is an individual award, but Matos' bat and glove helped the Giants go 4-2 and finish off a 6-3 homestand. He kicked the week off with a three-run homer off Los Angeles' Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Monday and he also robbed Teoscar Hernandez of a home run during the series, his first as the starting center fielder. But the award was won over the weekend, when he had one of the best 48-hour stretches in franchise history. 

Matos had two doubles and a single on Friday, driving in five runs in the first of three wins over the Colorado Rockies. On Saturday, he drove in six runs on a homer, double and single. 

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With 17 RBI over his first six starts of the season, Matos tied an MLB record previously held by former Baltimore Orioles slugger Chris Davis. He became the first Giant to drive in 17 over a six-game span at any point of the season since Hunter Pence in September of 2013, and he's just the fourth Giant to drive in at least five runs in back-to-back games. At 22, Matos is the youngest player in MLB history to have back-to-back games of at least five RBI. 

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