Pirates' Martin claims NL Player of the Week honor

Published January 13, 2015

Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Russell Martin has been selected as the National League's Player of the Week for the period ending April 28.

Martin batted .375 (9-for-24) and led the National League with four home runs, a .958 slugging percentage and 23 total bases over six games, five of which were Pittsburgh wins. He also finished the week among league-leaders in hits and added six RBI and five runs scored.

In addition, the 30-year-old recorded the seventh multi-homer effort of his career in Sunday's 9-0 victory over St. Louis. Martin added a double to his three-hit performance, becoming just the second Pirate catcher in the last 50 years to have three extra-base hits with at least two home runs in a single game.

The veteran catcher ranks second in the National League among catchers with 12 runs scored and fourth in homers with five this season.

Others considered for the award were fellow Pirates Pedro Alvarez and Jeff Locke; Colorado's Dexter Fowler and Eric Young, Jr.; Milwaukee's Carlos Gomez; Philadelphia's Ryan Howard, Michael Young and Kyle Kendrick; Arizona's Gerardo Parra; Miami's Giancarlo Stanton; Cincinnati's Tony Cingrani; Los Angeles Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw; and Washington's Jordan Zimmermann.

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