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IL1 International League

International League names players of the week

June 5, 2006 - International League (IL1) News Release


The International League announced today that Richmond first baseman Scott Thorman and Rochester pitcher J.D. Durbin have been named the League's Batter and Pitcher-of-the-Week for the period from May 29-June 4. Witt becomes the first Richmond Brave to be honored with an IL weekly award in 2006, while Durbin is the second Red Wing to be the IL's top pitcher, following Boof Bonser (April 6-16).

Richmond first baseman SCOTT THORMAN is among the IL leaders this year in batting average (8th - .305), home runs (2nd - 12), and RBI (T-6th - 35). His bat was on fire this week, highlighted by a grand slam Sunday that gave him 4 HR and 10 RBI in six games. Thorman hit safely in all six games (.375, 9-24) but saved his best for last this week. Saturday night against Syracuse, Thorman clubbed two solo homers as his Braves lost a hard fought battle to the SkyChiefs 4-3. The following afternoon, Syracuse jumped out to a 6-0 advantage, but that lead was erased quickly thanks in large part to Thorman's two-out 2nd inning grand slam. Richmond went on to crush the SkyChiefs 13-6. His three bombs over the weekend brought Thorman's season total to 12, second best in the League. 10 of his 12 long balls have come at home at the Diamond, hardly the IL's most hitter-friendly park. Thorman is coming off a 2005 season in which he hit a career-high 21 HR between Double-A Mississippi (15 HR in 90 G) and Richmond (6 HR in 52 G). His 5 RBI Sunday pushed his season total to 35, but it wasn't his best effort of the season. Scott put up 6 RBI against Columbus on May 18, which happened to be five days after he collected 4 RBI in a game against Toledo. Two months into the season, it's clear that Thorman, who is also tied for the IL lead with 64 hits and in 3rd place with a .548 slugging percentage, has been one of the League's most impressive hitters in 2006.

24-year-old Scott Thorman, a native of Cambridge, Ontario, is in his first full year at the Triple-A level. He was a 30th round draft choice of the Braves in 2000. The 6-3, 235-pound lefty hit .276 in 210 at-bats last year for Richmond in his first taste of Triple-A Baseball.

Thanks to a pair of very solid performances over the past six days, Rochester's J.D. DURBIN has been named the International League Pitcher-of-the-Week. As his Red Wings have fought to stay in first place in the IL North, Durbin has been a key component of one of the League's stingiest pitching staffs (3rd - 3.17 ERA). Tuesday night in Toledo, the Red Wings needed a win from Durbin to salvage a split of their four-game series with the Mud Hens. J.D. delivered 8.0 innings of shutout baseball, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out five. Despite his efforts, Durbin did not earn a decision, as the game went into extra innings scoreless. Finally his teammates exploded for five runs in the top of the 11th and won 5-0 to extend their IL North lead to 1.5 games over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Durbin's next start came Sunday afternoon at home against Columbus in Game 2 of a doubleheader. He fell one out short of his first complete game of the year in the 7-inning contest, finally surrendering his first run of the week with two outs in the 7th. After walking Jason Conti, J.D. gave up an RBI double to Kevin Reese, and Rochester manager Stan Cliburn brought in Ricky Barrett to close the door. Despite finally running out of gas, Durbin led the League with 14.2 IP this week, and had 11 strikeouts and a 0.66 ERA to show for it. More importantly, his victory Sunday, which pushes his mark to 4-1 on the year, gave his club a 3.0 game edge over the Red Barons in the division.

2006 marks the third straight season with Rochester for 24-year-old J.D. Durbin. He made his Triple-A debut in 2004, going 3-2 with a 4.54 ERA in seven starts with the Red Wings. Last year he spent the entire season at the Triple-A level, going 5-5 with a 4.33 ERA. His only stint in the Major Leagues came in September 2004, going 0-1 with a 7.36 ERA in 7.1 innings with Minnesota.

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