PORTLAND – New Sea Dogs manager Todd Claus (pronounced Clouse) is feeling right at home already after only one week in Portland.

The well-traveled coach and manager has settled in and is relishing his chance to be a manager at the Double-A level for the first time.

“The hospitality and the attention to detail are awesome here,” the 36-year-old Claus said. “… There’s a lot of preparation and planning, and as organized and anal as I am sometimes, it makes my job easier.”

When told that former players such as Kevin Millar and Blaine Neal called Portland the best minor league city they ever played in, Claus nodded understandingly.

“I can easily see how that can happen,” Claus said. “I’ve been all over the U.S. in leagues like the Texas League, Northwest League, California League, Midwest and now the Eastern League and I can very easily see how this is going to become one of my favorite spots.

“The whole Red Sox thing brings a whole different aura to this thing. They’re very passionate about baseball and they really care about this team and these players.”

Claus replaced Ron Johnson, who was promoted to manage Triple-A Pawtucket last winter. Claus’ first three seasons as a manager were spent at Single-A Cedar Rapids (Iowa) in 2002 and 2003 and Sarasota (Fla.) last year.

Durbin leading off

Outfielder Chris Durbin didn’t keep fans waiting long for the Sea Dogs’ first hit of the 2005 season Thursday night. He jumped all over a first-pitch fastball from Alfredo Simon and singled to left.

“That’s a pitch I basically try to sit on because it’s one of the easy pitches to hit and since the pitchers are always trying to get ahead, I try to use that to my advantage,” said the 23-year-old resident of Wylie, Texas. “It’s one of my strengths, looking for that fastball and hitting it because it’s my opinion you’re going to get at least one every at-bat.”

Durbin, a longtime leadoff hitter going back to his days at Baylor University and in high school, is learning to be more aggressive at the plate.

“I actually work the count out pretty regularly,” Durbin explained. “I see a lot of pitches, but over the past year I’ve gotten to be where I’m a pretty aggressive hitter because that first-pitch fastball might be the only one I’ll see.”

Durbin’s hitting approach has changed as a result of an organizational philosophy of being “selectively aggressive.”

“They want you to get the pitch you can handle and handle it, no matter when it comes in the count,” said Claus.

Durbin has reason to hold his head higher these days as a Baylor alumnus after watching the women’s basketball team win the Division I NCAA national championship.

“The men have struggled a little bit and there’s been some things that have happened with them, so it’s great to have the women’s team doing so well. I got to watch the game,” he said. “It was real exciting. I was surprised they basically walked away with it.”

Portland 8, Norwich 0

Kason Gabbard pitched seven shutout innings and Dustin Pedroia hit a two-run homer as the Portland Sea Dogs defeated the Norwich Navigators 8-0 on Sunday, sweeping the four-game series in the Eastern League.

Mike O’Keefe scored twice and Conor Brooks pitched two perfect innings to complete Portland’s first team shutout of the season.

The Sea Dogs (4-0) tallied all the runs they needed in the second inning. Sheldon Fulse’s RBI triple and Pedroia’s homer with one runner aboard were the key hits.

Portland added three runs in the eighth inning on three singles and a walk.

Gabbard (1-0) allowed only three singles and two walks over his seven-inning stint. The Navigators (0-4) threatened only once, when they loaded the bases with two out in the seventh. Norwich starter Chris Begg (0-1) took the loss.

Portland is the only undefeated team in the Eastern League. With four straight wins, the Sea Dogs set a franchise record for opening a season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.