Last modified: Thursday, July 2, 2009 1:57 AM EDT Wagner has plenty to remember about debut BY PETER GOBIS SUN CHRONICLE STAFF PAWTUCKET - Mark Wagner will never forget his Triple-A debut in the Red Sox organization, with the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium. "I'm kind of learning on the fly, it's a learning experience, there's a learning process." He had gone hitless in his first five at-bats, but he scored the game-winning run after drawing a base on balls. "I was going for it, to score and get out of there." A catcher, the 25-year-old Wagner bent his knees, stretched and ran endlessly - for five hours and 14 innings, the longest game on record for the PawSox since 2002. "That's part of baseball, it's nice to be on the field as long as we can," He threw out a would-be base-stealer on his very first throw down to second base and picked off another in the 10th inning. "One went out of my glove, another I just plain slipped and one was kind of questionable," said Wagner of the five stolen bases he allowed. If that wasn't memorable enough, Wagner was introduced to International League pitching, handling seven PawSox pitchers. "What better way to learn?" said Wagner, who was promoted from AA-Portland over the weekend and will share the catching duties for the PawSox with Dusty Brown. Wagner worked so well with the PawSox bullpen of Jose Vaquedano, Javier Lopez, Marcus McBeth, Fernando Cabrera, Hunter Jones and Bill Traber, that the sextet did not allow Syracuse a run for the final 9.1 innings of play. "Before the game I went and talked to every pitcher, to make sure that I knew what they throw, what they like." And that was after Wagner worked with highly-regarded right-handed starting pitcher Michael Bowden for 42/3 innings, 57 of his 87 pitches being for strikes. "Brownie (Dusty Brown) told me what pitchers like to do, where to place myself," added Wagner of his first AAA starting assignment. "I'll continue to talk to him, this (PawSox staff) is his crew. I'll come in here and do anything I can to help these guys win." Wagner, cited by Baseball America as the best defensive catcher in the Red Sox system, could eventually supplant Jason Varitek and/or George Kottaras in Boston. "Maybe I was a little nervous at first getting going, a little adrenalin," said Wagner. "Maybe there were a few calls (two strikeouts) that didn't go my way, but it was fun." Even if it lasted to nearly midnight, the longest game that he's caught in recent memory. "Sometimes you get a little worn down," said Wagner. "It's a learning process, it'll continue to be. It's a lot of hard work." Wagner was given a well-deserved night off Tuesday by PawSox manager Ron Johnson, but will likely be back behind the plate tonight (6 p.m.) when the PawSox host Scranton, a prelude to one of two consecutive fireworks exhibitions at McCoy Stadium. Wagner was thrilled to contribute to the PawSox's success in his debut, especially by scoring on a Travis Denker double in the bottom of the 14th inning. "I was able to work a walk, I took it as just another at-bat, 0-for-0 and find a way to get on. What a better way to end it?