John Smoltz and Andruw Jones of the Atlanta Braves have been selected as the National League co-Players of the Week.
Smoltz was brilliant in two starts last week, throwing complete games in each. He twirled a five-hit shutout in a 5-0 victory on June 21 against Florida, then followed it up with another five-hitter in an 8-1 triumph against Baltimore on Sunday.
The veteran righthander, who returned to the starting rotation this season after a few years as the Atlanta closer, is 8-5 with a 2.74 earned run average in 2005. He walked just two and struck out 13 in his two starts last week.
Jones, meanwhile, has carried the Atlanta offense recently. He homered in all three games during a weekend sweep of Baltimore and has 12 home runs for the month of June to give him a major league-best 24 for the season.
Last week, Jones belted a league-best five homers, drove in 11 runs to tie for the league high and batted .450 (9-for-20) with 1.200 slugging percentage.
It marked the second straight week a Brave has earned the NL weekly honor, as rookie outfielder Kelly Johnson garnered the award last Monday.
Others nominated for this week's award included Washington's Jose Guillen, who belted four homers and batted .423; St. Louis starter Chris Carpenter, who was 2-0 with a 0.53 earned run average and 19 strikeouts; and Chicago's Aramis Ramirez, who drove in 11 runs.