Brian Barton Hits a Grand Slam

York, PA - No one can accuse the York Revolution of being time wasters.

They got right to things Monday night at Sovereign Bank Stadium.

Just not the way they necessarily wanted to in a 10-3 loss to the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in the opener of a three-game series.

In 10 pitches Revolution manager Andy Etchebarren was already done for the game, ejected for arguing after his starting pitcher, Jesus Sanchez, walked the first two batters.

It's Etchebarren's second ejection in four games.

Unlike Friday, when he openly criticized the umpires, Etchebarren was unavailable for comment following the game. He had already left the stadium.

Fifteen pitches after the ejection, Sanchez joined him in the clubhouse after giving up a grand slam to Brian Barton and allowing six runs to six hitters.

And sometime soon after that, Etchebarren informed Sanchez his services with the York Revolution (20-23) were no longer needed, releasing him from the team during the middle of the game.

It was a move the Revolution planned on making after the game regardless. With Etchebarren and Sanchez in the clubhouse prematurely, why waste each other's time?

The release was official around the fifth inning, the first time the Revolution have released a player mid-game.

Sanchez had already left the stadium by the time the game had ended as well.

A corresponding move is expected to happen Wednesday.

Sanchez's night couldn't have been any worse.

It took five pitches before he threw a strike.

He walked the first two batters, prefacing Etchebarren's ejection, and then gave up singles to the next two batters. After leadoff hitter Paco Figueroa scored on Casey Benjamin's single, Barton stepped in with the bases loaded and quickly unloaded them.

The grand slam by Barton, a former highly-regarded prospect of the Cleveland Indians, hit off of the top of the green, inflatable bounce house located over the left-centerfield fence.

Sanchez, a left-hander, then walked the next batter, Matt Padgett, before leaving the game without recording an out. He threw 25 pitches, nine for strikes. All six batters he faced scored.

Southern Maryland starter Matthew Vasquez didn't work nearly as hard in all of his six innings.

Sure, the Revolution picked up two runs in the bottom of the first on an RBI groundout by Scott Grimes and an RBI single by Michael Hernandez.

But Vasquez settled in after the Hernandez single, retiring 17 of the next 21 batters he faced.

He allowed four hits, three coming in the first inning. And he walked three.

The only two runs he allowed were in the first.

Considering the six-run deficit it was handed in the first inning, the York bullpen was efficient.

After Sanchez was removed, the Blue Crabs (23-21) picked up two more runs in the first inning off of left-hander Yunior Novoa.

Novoa followed that with three scoreless innings.

"He saved our pen pretty much," York pitching coach Mark Mason said. "That was my goal at that point in the game was just try not to kill us for the next seven days. At that point in the game, managing your bullpen is what you do anyway. When it's crazy early, someone has to give you some extra time out there and Novoa did that tonight."

Dumas Garcia, James Houser, Stephen Penney and Chris Regas limited the Blue Crabs to two runs on six hits the rest of the way.

Grimes offered what little offensive moments the Revolution had, hitting a solo home run in the ninth. He finished the game 1-for-5 with two RBI.

"I thought the bullpen did a pretty good job trying to keep the damage down after the first inning," Mason said. "It's hard to comeback from a snowman in the first inning."


(ydr.com)