Dustin Pedroia follows through after hitting a two-RBI single in the second inning against the Rangers last night in Texas.

AP / Matt Slocum Matt Slocum

ARLINGTON, Texas — Last week, pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka was chosen as the American League Player of the Week. There’s a good chance his teammate Kevin Youkilis could be chosen the American League Player of the Month for May.

Youkilis went into last night with a 16-game hitting streak, the longest of his career. For the month, he was hitting .405 (34-for-84). Since the hitting streak began back on May 5, Youkilis had 11 doubles, four homers and 16 RBI.

His .405 May average is the third-highest in the month for Sox players dating back to 1957. Wade Boggs compiled a .471 average in 1986 and Bill Mueller hit .418 in 2003.

Meanwhile, the only American League player with more hits this month is Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki, who had 35, one more than the Sox first baseman.

Youkilis’ hitting streak is the longest for a Red Sox player since Manny Ramirez pieced together a 27-game run last July and August. It’s also the longest for a Red Sox first baseman since Mo Vaughn had a 16-game streak from Sept. 13-27, 1998.

Among all major- league first basemen, Youkilis’ .340 average is third, behind Derrek Lee (.366) and Todd Helton (.363).

Defensively, Youkilis has yet to commit an error in the field this season and hasn’t made one at first since last July. ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark named Youkilis one of baseball’s Top 10 Most Underrated Players recently.

What of Percival?

Red Sox reliever Brendan Donnelly is watching with keen interest the developments surrounding former teammate Troy Percival.

Percival, who signed a two-year, $12-million free agent contract with the Detroit Tigers after the 2004 season, retired after the 2005 season because of a forearm injury. He worked as a scout for the Tigers in 2006, then went to work this spring as a special-assignment pitching instructor for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

But Percival asked out of his deal this week and is getting ready to throw for teams. The Florida Marlins, Philadelphia Phillies and Tigers have all expressed an interest.

“I’m still not convinced it’s real,” said Donnelly, who exchanged text messages with Percival yesterday. “I think he misses the competition. But if he does it, I think he’ll do it for the right reasons. He’s not going to do it just to do it. He has too much pride.”

Donnelly, who spent more than 10 seasons in the minor leagues before finally getting to the big leagues in 2002, credits Percival for convincing him to persevere.

Schilling in a skid

Curt Schilling, who labeled his last outing “craptastic” on his blog, is trying to rediscover the command of his fastball.

Schilling has allowed 24 baserunners in the last 12 innings, covering two starts and has been atypically wild.

“The last three or four innings (Wednesday night in New York) were actually pretty good, said manager Terry Francona. “I know he was frustrated, but it’s not like he has to reinvent himself. He just has to locate his fastball better. You do that, and you really open up the plate.”

David Ortiz, who 29 doubles last season, has 19 through the first 46 games this year. Eleven of those doubles have come this month, the most for a Red Sox player in May over the last 50 years since Mueller had 13 in 2003.

On the other hand, Ortiz has gone 13 games without hitting a homer, one shy of his longest homer drought as a member of the Sox.

smcadam@projo.com