<table> </table> Hours before the first pitch, rookie shortstop Mike Aviles sat across from center fielder Mitch Maier, feigning concentration at his deck of cards. Who knows whether Aviles noticed Jos&#233; Guillen&#8217;s two young sons crowding his table and rapping in Spanish or even which card game he and Maier were playing.</p><p>Aviles&#8217; thoughts were elsewhere. On Monday, he received the news that he had won co-American League player of the week honors, along with the Yankees&#8217; Xavier Nady.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m still in a little shock,&#8221; Aviles said. &#8220;I was playing cards over there, I wasn&#8217;t even paying attention to the card game &#8212; I was more thinking, &#8216;Did they really just tell me that?&#8217; &#8221;</p><p>Just as the Royals put together one of their hottest streaks of the season, Aviles swung the big bat last week for a .577 batting average and 1.000 slugging percentage with two home runs, three doubles and five RBIs.</p><p>Kansas City went 5-1, sweeping Oakland and taking two of three games from Chicago. After going four for four in Sunday&#8217;s 14-3 rout over the White Sox, Aviles raised his batting average to .340 &#8212; tops among all major-league rookies.</p><p>&#8220;I believe he&#8217;s very deserving,&#8221; manager Trey Hillman said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a good achievement for him. It&#8217;s good for our organization, and I&#8217;m really proud for him.&#8221;</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Meche stays hot</span></strong></p><p>Gil Meche, 10-9, started this encouraging streak where the Royals have won eight of their last 11 games, so who better than him to keep it rolling against the Red Sox.</p><p>On Monday, Meche settled down after a rocky start and tamed Boston with only four hits through six innings.</p><p>It was a night of extremes for Meche. He spotted the Red Sox two hits and two runs in the first inning and then looked nearly untouchable. Boston&#8217;s Coco Crisp, in particular, had a night to forget, striking out all three times he faced Meche.</p><p>In fact, Meche&#8217;s work was done after he fooled Crisp in the top of the sixth for his ninth strikeout of the evening, one shy of a season high.</p><p>On the flip side, Meche also had control problems, picking up a season-high five walks. However, the number that matters most is four &#8212; Meche&#8217;s consecutive win streak.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Awaiting punishment</span></strong></p><p>The wait could end today as the Royals expect to learn about possible fines and suspensions for their part in Sunday&#8217;s bench-clearing altercation that led to five ejections.</p><p>Royals catcher Miguel Olivo, no stranger to Major League Baseball&#8217;s doghouse, was ejected in the fifth inning for charging the mound after being hit by a pitch from White Sox reliever D.J. Carrasco.</p><p>Olivo squared up against Carrasco but landed a punch on catcher A.J. Pierzynski. Carrasco was ejected, followed by Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen for his demonstrative protest to the umpires.</p><p>In the seventh inning, Royals pitcher Zack Greinke was ejected for hitting Nick Swisher; the act automatically sent Hillman to the clubhouse early because both benches had been warned after the first incident.</p><p>For instigating the scuffle, Olivo is likely to face the stiffest penalty. Olivo started this season serving a four-game suspension for throwing a punch during an on-field fight while playing for the Florida Marlins.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Etc.</span></strong></p><p>Infielder Alberto Callaspo returned to workouts for the first time since being placed on the 15-day disabled list on June 28 for an undisclosed ailment.</p><p>The day before the designation, Callaspo, 25, was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence. Expect Callaspo to visit the minors on a rehab assignment before returning to active duty.