BASEBALL PLAYOFFS : A Big Victory in the Wee Hours for Indians : Game 1: It ends at 2:08 a.m. in Cleveland with Pena’s homer in the bottom of the 13th inning.

Deadlines came and went, presses rolled and the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox played into early Wednesday morning in Game 1 of their American League playoff series.

Finally, Tony Pena ended the longest playoff game in major league history by hitting a solo home run with two out in the bottom of the 13th inning, giving Cleveland a 5-4 victory.

Perhaps half of the record paid crowd of 44,218 at Jacobs Field stuck around to witness Pena’s homer off Boston reliever Zane Smith at 2:08 a.m. EDT.

By game’s end, they had seen:

Twenty one hits, 14 pitchers, 13 innings, nine runs, five home runs, two rain delays and one confiscated bat--all over the course of 5 hours 1 minute.

What stood out most of all was Pena’s game-winning homer and Boston Manager Kevin Kennedy asking that Albert Belle’s bat be checked after Belle’s game-tying homer off Rick Aguilera in the bottom of the 11th.

Pena entered the game as a defensive replacement for Sandy Alomar Jr. in the 11th. He came to bat with runners on first and second in the 11th, but grounded into an inning-ended fielder’s choice.

In the 13th, he hit a 3-and-0 pitch from Smith into the left-field stands.

“I never had an opportunity to end a game that way, especially a playoff game,” said Pena, who played for the Red Sox from 1990-93. “I hit that ball real well, but I thought it would hit the top of the wall. When I saw the crowd clapping I said, ‘Oh, that’s it.’ ”

Pena raised his arms in triumph as he circled the bases.

When Belle, who had a major league-leading 50 home runs, scored after his 11th-inning blast, home plate umpire Tim Welke confiscated the bat. It was later sawed in half and declared by league officials to be legal.

Kennedy said he was acting on advice from Red Sox General Manager Dan Duquette, who said he had information that Belle was using a corked bat.

“We had some information that it was worth looking into,” Duquette said. “We’re not the only team that has this information. We’re just the team that’s playing them. We’d like an even playing field. We decided to challenge Albert’s bat and see if it was true.”

Belle had a bat confiscated last season in Chicago that was found to be corked.

Wednesday morning, Belle and Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove were furious at the Red Sox’s actions.

“It’s just a desperate effort to throw a monkey wrench into our season,” said Belle, who pointed to his biceps and screamed obscenities toward the Boston dugout after the bat was seized.

Said Hargrove: “I don’t know in a playoff situation if gamesmanship has any place.”