Max Murphy, Bret Helton Honored in Week 6
In American Association Daily, the Minor League Sports Report names their Pitcher and Player of the Week for Week 6 of the 2019 American Association season. This week St. Paul Saints outfielder Max Murphy is named the top player and the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks Bret Helton the top pitcher.
Murphy, Helton Honored in Week 6
The Minor League Sports Report and This Week in the Association have chosen their Player and Pitcher of the Week for Week 6 in the American Association. St. Paul Saints outfielder Max Murphy is the Player of the Week after hitting six homeruns, while Bret Helton of the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks was named the Player of the Week after allowing no runs in two starts.
Player of the Week – Week 6: Max Murphy, St. Paul Saints
To be honest, the St. Paul Saints Max Murphy had won this award three days into the week. However, the outfielder had an impressive week, posting at least two hits in all seven games he played with a .514 average.
Murphy absolutely obliterated the Sioux Falls Canaries pitching staff. In the first game of the series, he led the Saints to a 20-11 victory, going 4-6 with 4 runs scored, a double and two homeruns. He also drove in seven in that contest. The next night he was 2-4 with a run and an RBI. St. Paul lost that game 11-6.
Murphy then continued his torrid run, going 4-6 with four runs, two doubles, two homers, and four RBI on Wednesday, a 15-3 victory. The final game of the series saw the Saints outfielder go 3-7 with two runs, a double, a homer and two RBI in a 15-13 victory in 10 innings. His two run homer in the tenth gave St. Paul the deciding runs. In the four game series, Murphy was 13-23 with 11 runs scored, four doubles, five homers, and 13 RBI.
In the three game set against the Gary Southshore RailCats, Max Murphy kept the offense going. He went 2-4 in each of the first two games, adding a run scored. In the second game of the series he also posted his league leading 12th homer of the season. In the finale, the outfielder went 2-6 with a run and an RBI. He went 6-14 with three runs and an RBI against the RailCats.
It was an historic week for Max Murphy. Combined the outfielder was 19 of 37 with 13 of his hits going for extra bases (7 doubles, 6 homers). He scored 14 runs and drove in 14. He had a double in six of the seven games, and scored at least one run in all seven contests. He also homered in four of the six games.
Added to the impressive numbers was a .525 on base percentage and a 1.189 slugging percentage, tops in the league last week. He also posted an OPS of 1.714 which also led the American Association.
Pitcher of the Week – Week 6: Bret Helton, Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks right-hander was named as the Pitcher of the Week. Helton went 2-0 in two starts with a 0.00 ERA. That included a shutout of the Chicago Dogs on Sunday. Helton allowed only six hits and four walks in 12.2 innings last week, striking out 10.
The right-hander started the week by tossing 5.2 shutout innings against Gary Southshore. Helton allowed four hits and three walks, with 64 of his 105 pitches going for strikes in the 3-0 victory.
The righty allowed a lone base runner in three of the first four innings, then found himself in a bit of trouble in the fifth when he gave up a single and a walk with two down. However, he got Evan Marzilli to popout to end the threat. In the sixth, a two out single put two on and that would be it for the right-hander. Four relievers would help to complete the shutout.
On Sunday, Bret Helton completely dominated the Chicago Dogs, allowing two hits and a walk in the seven inning complete game shutout, which completed the double-header sweep for the RedHawks. The Fargo starter retired eight of the first nine batters he faced, not giving up his first hit until two outs in the third. He gave up a two out single in the fourth and would then retire 10 of the last 11 batters he faced, with the only runner reaching on an error.
For the contest, Helton threw just 92 pitches, 58 of which were strikes. The two victories moved him to 2-1 in his four starts this year.
2019 Players of the Week
Week 5 – Nate Samson, Sioux City Explorers
Week 4 – Tim Colwell, Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
Week 3 – Victor Roache, Chicago Dogs
Week 2 – Tony Rosselli, Chicago Dogs
Week 1 – Zach Nehrir, Cleburne Railroaders
2019 Pitchers of the Week
Week 5 – Mitch Lambson, Winnipeg Goldeyes
Week 4 – Taylor Jordan, Sioux City Explorers
Week 3 – Eddie Medina, St. Paul Saints
Week 2 – Eddie Medina, St. Paul Saints
Week 1 – Jake Matthys, St. Paul Saints
Note About Player/Pitcher of the Week Winners
The Player and Pitcher of the Week are chosen each week by the Minor League Sports Report’s Robert Pannier and by Kevin Luckow of the Tenth Inning Stretch. Honorees are chosen based upon statistics, quality of opponent, and importance in relation to overall performance of their own team.
By Robert Pannier
Minor League Sports Report - American Association Daily Recap: June 24, 2019
June 25, 2019 @ 6:01 am
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