Zephyrs win PCL marathon in 24th

Wiki Gonzalez's RBI single in the 24th inning gave the New Orleans Zephyrs a 5-4 win over the Nashville Sounds on Saturday in a game that matched the longest in Pacific Coast League history.

The record was set on June 8, 1909, when San Francisco blanked Oakland, 1-0. Sacramento and Portland played to a 1-1 tie on Sept. 10, 1911.

In the completion of Friday's suspended game, Gonzalez smacked a line drive to center field with two on and one out to plate the go-ahead run. After shortstop Chris Barnwell replaced Nashville reliever Mike Meyers (1-1), Greg Thissen struck out on a squeeze attempt and Josh Labandeira was caught stealing home to end the inning.

Santiago Ramirez (2-1), New Orleans' eighth pitcher, struck out two in the bottom half to seal the win. The 27-year-old right-hander fanned four over three perfect innings.

Seven relievers combined to keep the Sounds (19-9) silent after the seventh.

After New Orleans' Brendan Harris delivered an RBI single with two strikes and two outs in the ninth to forge a 4-4 tie, the Zephyrs (12-16) were held scoreless until the 24th by four relievers.

The teams combined to use 17 pitchers who registered 48 strikeouts, setting a new PCL single-game record.

Larry Broadway, Mike Vento and Tyrell Godwin each drove in a run for the Zephyrs and combined for nine of their 22 hits.

Dave Krynzel blasted a solo homer in the first and Brent Abernathy, Corey Hart and starting pitcher Dennis Sarfate collected two hits and an RBI apiece for Nashville.

Sounds catcher Mike Rivera went 0-for-7 with two walks and was hit by two pitches as his 16-game hitting streak came to an end in the nearly eight-hour marathon.