International League names players of the week

June 19, 2006 - International League (IL1) News Release

The International League announced today that Buffalo third baseman Andy Marte and Toledo pitcher Humberto Sanchez have been named the League's Batter and Pitcher-of-the-Week for the period from June 12-18. Marte becomes the first member of the Buffalo Bisons to be honored with an IL weekly award in 2006, while Sanchez is the third different Mud Hens hurler to get the IL Pitcher-of-the-Week distinction, following Zach Miner (April 17-23), and last week's winner Wilfredo Ledezma (June 5-11).

One of baseball's most prized prospects, Buffalo third baseman ANDY MARTE, had been largely unable to hit the ball out of the park for much of this year. After clubbing 20 homers last season with Richmond, Marte had managed just two long balls in his first 54 games with the Herd in 2006. Then on June 6, he hit the first of what would be 8 home runs in his next 12 games. 7 of those have come in the last 9 contests. Marte hit a solo homer Monday at Charlotte, his third in as many games at the time. His string of three straight games with a home run was snapped Tuesday (1-4, 2B), but it didn't take long for Andy to get a new streak started. In Game 2 of a twin bill at Durham Thursday, Marte hit a two-run shot in the 2nd inning; Buffalo went on to win 4-0. Andy went deep again on Friday (1-4, HR, 2 RBI), and Saturday (3-5, HR, 2 RBI), and once more on Sunday (1-4, HR, 3 RBI). From Thursday-Sunday alone, Marte hit 4 HR with 9 RBI. After entering June with just two home runs, Marte now leads the Bisons with ten. For the week of June 12-18, he led the IL in homers (5), RBI (12), extra-base hits (6), runs scored (7), and slugging percentage (.962).

22-year-old Andy Marte was dealt twice in the offseason after spending the first five years of his pro career in the Atlanta organization. He was traded to Boston in exchange for Edgar Renteria in December, before then being dealt by the Red Sox to Cleveland as part of a seven-player trade in late January. Baseball America had ranked him as Boston's #1 prospect prior to the second deal. In 2005 he played 109 games with the Richmond Braves, going .275 with 20 HR and 74 RBI, as well as 24 games with Atlanta (.140, 4 RBI).

6'6" righty HUMBERTO SANCHEZ made his Triple-A debut on June 8, beating Buffalo by tossing 5.2 innings and allowing just one run. He followed up his impressive debut with two scoreless performances last week, throwing a total of 13.1 innings of shutout baseball. Sanchez blanked the Syracuse SkyChiefs for 7.0 innings Tuesday night at Fifth Third Field, leading Toledo to a 1-0 victory. Humberto allowed just three hits and a walk while striking out seven. Sunday afternoon Sanchez went to Rochester to face the IL North Division leading Red Wings. Rochester couldn't manage a hit against Sanchez until they were two outs into the 5th inning. They finally chased him from the game in the 7th after a hit batter was followed by a Garrett Jones single. It wasn't enough though, as the Mud Hens bullpen shut down the Red Wings for the final 2.2 innings and Toledo won 3-0. For the week Sanchez was 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 13.1 IP, including 12 K. Humberto spent the first two months of the season with Double-A Erie, where he posted a 5-3 record with a 1.76 ERA and 86 K in 71.2 IP. He's now won his first three Triple-A starts.

Humberto Sanchez missed the first half of the 2005 season with a groin injury, and after coming back went 3-5 with a 5.57 ERA in 15 appearances with Erie. The 22-year-old looked better during his six starts with Mesa of the Arizona Fall League in the offseason, going 1-0 with a 2.13 ERA. The native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, was originally chosen in the 31st round of the 2001 draft by Detroit.

International League Stories from June 19, 2006

• Lynx rally falls just short in 4-3 loss - Ottawa Lynx
• Hens hold Wings' number - again - Rochester Red Wings
• Five-run seventh carries Tribe past Bisons 6-4 - Indianapolis Indians
• Tides shut out Bats - Norfolk Tides
• Bulls make it three straight against Knights - Durham Bulls
• Paw Sox beat Braves - Gwinnett Stripers
• R-Braves game notes - Gwinnett Stripers
• SkyChiefs game notes - Syracuse Mets
• Bisons Notes - Buffalo Bisons
• Knights Stadium to host "Knight" of USA Baseball - Charlotte Knights
• Andy Marte Named IL Batter-of-the-Week - Buffalo Bisons
• International League names players of the week - IL1
• Bisons to Make Check Presentation from Sabres Playoff Games on the Big Board - Buffalo Bisons

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