Bruce, Bautista win MLB monthly awards

NEW YORK, June 2 (UPI) -- Jay Bruce of Cincinnati and Toronto's Jose Bautista, who combined for 23 home runs in May, were named Thursday as players of the month in the major leagues.

Bruce won the National League honor after hitting 12 home runs to go with 33 RBI and 23 runs scored. He also led the NL in slugging percentage (.739) and extra-base hits (19).

Bautista received his second straight player-of-the-month award in the American League. He batted .360 with four doubles, 11 home runs and 23 RBI even though he missed five games in May. He has led the AL in home runs in each of the last five months.

The other monthly awards included:

AL Rookie and AL Pitcher -- Tampa Bay starter Jeremy Hellickson won both honors after going 4-1 with a 1.36 earned run average in five starts.

NL Rookie -- New York infielder Justin Turner, who hit safely in eight straight games and batted .325 with 20 RBI.

NL Pitcher -- Atlanta's Jair Jurrjens, who in six starts went 5-1 with a 1.65 earned run average. He made his 100th career start on May 24.