The Nashville Sounds were on the short end of a 5-4 loss to the New Orleans Zephyrs as the teams participated in a Pacific Coast League record-tying 24-inning marathon on May 5th & 6th, 2006 at Greer Stadium.
The 24-inning contest, which finished with a game time of eight hours and seven minutes, was the longest in both teams' histories and matched the existing PCL mark originally set on June 8, 1909 in a game between San Francisco and Oakland then equaled on September 10, 1911 in a game between Sacramento and Portland.
Zephyrs catcher Wiki Gonzalez provided the game-winner when he drove in pitcher-turned-right fielder Chris Schroder with a one-out RBI single up the middle off Mike Meyers that glanced off the glove of Sounds second baseman Jermaine Clark. Schroder had drawn a one-out walk and moved to second on a Josh Labandeira single.
The game-deciding run was the first scored by either team in 15 innings as both teams remained scoreless from the 10th through the 23rd frames. The Sounds and Z's completed the final six innings of the contest on Saturday, May 6th after playing to a 4-4 tie through 18 innings the previous night before the game was halted due to a curfew rule.
The Sounds got on the board only two pitches into the game with a leadoff homer courtesy of Dave Krynzel. The Sounds' one run would not be enough as the teams would exchange the lead four times throughout the game. The first exchange would occur in the top of the third inning. The Zephyrs scored two unearned runs off two singles and an error by Sounds shortstop Chris Barnwell.
Barnwell bounced right back with a leadoff double in the bottom of the fourth and later scored from third on a squeeze bunt by pitcher Dennis Sarfate.
Nashville added another run in the seventh on a Brent Abernathy RBI single to extend the lead to 3-1.
The visitors came back with one run in the eighth when Tyrell Godwin was hit by an Allan Simpson pitch with the bases loaded to force home Brendan Harris.
With the Zephyrs down to their final strike in the top of the ninth, Henry Mateo scored from second on a two-out, two-strike single into left field by Harris off Simpson to tie the game up at four runs apiece.
Neither team would strike again until the top of the 24th inning.
Click here to view a box score from the record-setting 24-inning game.
PCL RECORDS SET IN THE GAME
Most at-bats, both teams - 166
(previous mark was 109)
Most pitchers used, both teams - 17
(previous mark was 14)
Most strikeouts, both teams - 48
(previous mark was 32)
Most assists, both teams - 53
(previous mark was 45)
Most at-bats, one team - 81, NVL
(previous mark was 64)
Batting strikeouts, one team - 29, NVL
(previous mark was 20)
Batting strikeouts, ind. - 7, Brad Nelson, NVL
(previous mark was 6)
PCL RECORDS TIED IN GAME
Most players used, both teams - 40
(tied existing PCL mark set in 1947)
Most pitchers used, one team - 9, NVL
(tied existing mark set in 1964)
Most assists, one club - 28, NVL
(tied existing mark, 4th occurrence)
NASHVILLE RECORDS SET IN GAME
Hits allowed - 22
(prev. mark was 20)
At-bats - 11, Chris Barnwell
(prev. - 9)