Yu Darvish was named Player of the Week for the first time in his MLB career Monday after throwing a combined 14 shutout innings to earn two wins from two starts for the San Diego Padres in the National League.
The Japanese 36-year-old hurled eight innings against the Seattle Mariners on Sept. 13 and six against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, improving to 15-7 this season from 28 starts.
The right-hander has a 3.05 ERA and is one win away from matching his MLB-best 16 from 2012 when he made his big-league debut with the Texas Rangers.
Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez won the award in the American League after batting .520 with five home runs and 10 RBIs.
Chicago Cubs rookie Seiya Suzuki was the most recent Japanese player to win the award. He took it in mid-April this year.
Related coverage:
Baseball: Yu Darvish earns 15th win with six impressive innings
Baseball: Yu Darvish gets 14th win with 8-inning gem
Strikeout artist Yu Darvish credits success to getting good breaks
