"It was the best Father's Day gift I could get," Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson said.

01:00 AM EDT on Monday, June 19, 2006

BY BRUCE WELLS
Special to the Journal

RICHMOND, Va. -- Luke Allen's one-out RBI single in the top of the 17th inning scored Jeff Bailey with the game winning run as the Pawtucket Red Sox beat the Richmond Braves, 8-5, at The Diamond.

The 17-inning marathon lasted 4 hours and 35 minutes, giving the PawSox their second win in a row and sent the Braves to their 10th straight defeat.

It was the longest game for the PawSox this season in both innings and time played since an April 12 loss to Rochester that lasted 16 innings and took 4 hours and 26 minutes.

"It was a little bit longer then you possibly need but it was the best Father's Day gift I could get," Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson said. "I thought we had the game in the ninth obviously, you take a three-run lead into the ninth and we couldn't close it out. After that, it was just a stalemate."

In the 17th, a one-out single by Bailey, a double by Hee-Seop Choi and an intentional walk to Enrique Wilson loaded the bases against reliever Franklin Nunez. Allen's looping liner to center scored the go-ahead run.

"I was just trying to put the ball in play, he got me 0-2 pretty quick," said Allen. "It was tough to see at that time of day with the shadow going across. It was fortunate that it dropped in."

Alejandro Machado drove in two more with an RBI double to put Pawtucket up 8-5.

Richmond tried to rally against reliever Pawtucket Barry Hertzler, who walked the first two batters in the last of the 17th. But Hertzler got an out on a fielder's choice, then induced Bill McCarthy to hit into a game-ending double play. Hertzler picked up his first save, in relief of Tim Bausher, who got the win.

Tough-luck Pawtucket starter Matt Ginter scattered four hits while allowing just two runs over seven innings.

Pawtucket had a 3-0 lead in the fourth with the help of Dustin Pedroia's early solo shot.

In the eighth, Choi crushed a Peter Moylan fastball to center for his second homer in as many nights. Enrique Wilson reached base on a one-out single and scored on an RBI base hit by Stern to put the PawSox up 5-2.

Craig Breslow came on in relief of Ginter in the eighth and set the Braves down in order, extending his scoreless innings streak to 12 with 18 strikeouts.

It all fell apart for Breslow in the bottom of the ninth.

A leadoff single by Brayan Pena, a one-out single by Carlos Mendez and an RBI base hit by McCarthy pulled the Braves to within two. Breslow struck out Cesar Crespo, but Tony Pena followed with an RBI single to right that scored Mendez. Luke Allens' throw home from right sailed over the catcher and the error allowed McCarthy to move up to third and Pena to second. Pinch hitter Dax Norris then poked an RBI single to shallow center to score McCarthy and the score was 5-5.

The Braves mounted a threat against Bausher in the bottom of the 15th inning, loading the bases with a walk, an intentional walk and an error by Wilson. Bausher fanned McCarthy to end the threat, but flirted with disaster again in the bottom of the 16th giving up back-to-back two-out singles. Jamal Strong then lined to shortstop Wilson who flipped the ball to Pedroia at second but not in time to get the force. Pedroia saw Martin Prado charging home with the game-winning run and fired a bullet to Corky Miller who blocked the plate and made the out on Prado.

"That was the game right there," Johnson said. "From the dugout, I thought he was going to score."