PAWTUCKET --- Travis Denker’s double into the gap in right-center field drove in Mark Wagner with the run that lifted the Pawtucket Red Sox to a marathon 6-5 victory over the Syracuse Chiefs that took 14 innings to complete late Monday night at McCoy Stadium.
With one out and the game nearing the five-hour mark, Wagner, who was making his Triple-A debut, worked a walk to set the stage for Denker, whose double went to the wall and allowed Wagner to cross the plate to the delight of the scattering of fans that stayed until the end.
The game took four hours and 52 minutes to complete and was the longest contest time-wise since Aug. 19, 2002, when the PawSox needed 4:57 to net a 9-8 extra-inning victory on the road over the Rochester Red Wings.
“It was a struggle,” said PawSox manager Ron Johnson. “If you win a game like this, you feel good. We had one earlier in the year that went 15 innings and we lost it. It’s a tough taste in your mouth when that happens.”
The PawSox tried to make 13 a lucky number in the bottom of that inning, when with one out, Freddy Guzman ripped a single into right field, and two pitches later, stole second base with ease.
But after Jeff Bailey flied out to straightaway center field, Chris Carter was intentionally walked to set up a force around the diamond for Aaron Bates, who lined out to second base to end the threat.
It was a long night for both club and a difficult one for the starting pitchers, especially PawSox rookie Michael Bowden, who had just one vicotry and a 6.23 ERA in his last seven outings and got off to a rough start by giving up solo homers with one gone in the first inning to Justin Maxwell and Corey Patterson.
The PawSox came back with a run in their half of the first and took the lead in the third with three more runs, but the Chiefs knotted the score in the fifth and knocked Bowden out of the game, when with two outs, Maxwell legged out a run-scoring triple and Patterson followed with an RBI double.
Meanwhile, Chiefs ace J.D. Martin, who entered the game tied for second in the International League in victories (8) and fifth in ERA (2.31), threw well enough to win on most nights, as he struck out six batters and allowed four hits and no walks in six innings of work.
But Martin only gave up one earned run because the Chiefs’ defense let him down in the first and third innings by committing four miscues that led to as many unearned runs.
In the first, Guzman led off with a base hit, and before the first pitch to the next batter, Bailey, Martin uncorked an errant pickoff throw that went to the tarp in foul ground and allowed Guzman to motor into third. He stayed there until Bailey drove him home with a sacrifice fly to deep right.
In the third, singles by Gil Velazquez and Angel Chavez, a pair of throwing errors, and another error on a grounder by Guzman helped the PawSox take a 3-2 lead. Guzman later scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Carter.
After the Chiefs tied the score in the fifth, they untied it in the sixth with an unearned run off reliever Jose Vaquedano, as a two-out fielding miscue was followed by a run-scoring single to left by No. 9 batter Gustavo Molina.
But the PawSox knotted the score in the bottom of the frame on a home run by Carter, who lofted a 2-2 pitch by Martin into the Chiefs’ bullpen in right, and just out of the reach of right fielder Mike Vento, for his seventh blast of the season.
The PawSox nearly prevented extra innings and broke the tie in the eighth, when with one gone, Bailey singled down the left-field line and Carter and Bates followed with walks to load the bases.
But reliever Preston Larrison got the Chiefs off the hook by inducing Bubba Bell (who struck out in his first three at-bats) to ground into a 4-6-3 double play.
Southpaw Billy Traber, the seventh pitcher used by the PawSox, picked up the victory by working two scoreless innings and retiring all six batters he faced.
“We stretched (our bullpen) to the limit,” remarked Johnson, “and what a phenomenal job by every one of our relievers.”
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Notes: Wagner, who was called up from Double-A Portland late Saturday night, went 0-for-5 with his walk and a pair of strikeouts in the No. 6 spot in the lineup and only threw out two of seven attempted base stealers, but one of the runners he gunned down, Kory Casto, came with no outs in the 10th. … Vaquedano has yielded just one earned run in his last 18 1/3 innings. … Chavez’s third-inning single upped his hit streak to 10 games, and Bailey’s eighth-inning hit extended his streak to nine. … The series with the Chiefs concludes tonight at 7:05 p.m. with the PawSox sending Enrique Gonzalez (7-6, 5.46) to the mound opposite the Chiefs’ Marco Estrada (4-2, 4.50). Tonight is also PawSox No. 1 Foam Finger Night, and the first 3,000 fans ages 14 and under that enter the ballpark will receive a blue foam finger. … After a day off on Wednesday, the PawSox will entertain division-leading Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in an important two-game series. On Thursday, lefty Kris Johnson (3-7, 6.09) gets the ball, while on Friday, Clay Buchholz (5-1, 1.90) takes his turn on the mound. Both games are at 6:15 p.m.
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Syracuse 200 021 000 000 00--5-13-4
Pawtucket 103 001 000 000 01--6-9-1
J.D. Martin, Wil Ledezma (7), Preston Larrison (8), Cory Doyne (10), Saul Rivera (12), Jason Bergmann (14) and Gustavo Molina; Michael Bowden, Jose Vaquedano (5), Javier Lopez (7), Marcus McBeth (8), Fernando Cabrera (10), Hunter Jones (11) and Mark Wagner. WP -- Billy Traber (6-3). LP -- Jason Bergmann (1-1). 2B -- Corey Patterson (S), Travis Denker (P). 3B -- Justin Maxwell (S). HR -- Justin Maxwell (S), Corey Patterson (S), Chris Carter (P).
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