Mudcats' Muniz rips game-winning HR

Published in Sports on July 31, 2006 2:01 PM

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PEARL, Miss. -- J.C. Muniz struck a three-run homer in the fifth inning to lift Carolina past Mississippi 7-4 on Sunday afternoon, snapping a seven-game losing streak at Trustmark Park.

With the game scoreless in the fifth, Muniz drilled his fifth homer to left-center with two aboard. Lee Mitchell followed with a two-run double, his first hit since coming off of the disabled list, sending Paul Mildren (10-7) to his 10th victory. With the win, Mildren became the 14th Mudcats pitcher to record double-figure triumphs.

Mississippi (15-22) rallied for four runs in the sixth, but the Braves were denied the tying score when Brett Carroll threw out Barbaro Canizares at home attempting to tag up from third.

Scott Tyler registered his second save, allowing one hit in the ninth.

Rex Rundgren extended his hitting streak to seven games thanks to an RBI-single in the seventh. Carolina (13-24) tacked on an unearned run in the ninth when embattled second baseman Yunel Escobar dropped a pop fly with two outs, allowing Kevin Randel to score.

On Saturday night, Escobar instigated an incident when while scoring in the eighth inning on a double, he jumped up and stomped on home plate to accentuate the run. After feuding ensued, Escobar was drilled in the back by Mildren on Sunday afternoon, with no incident stemming.

Carolina not only snapped its longest losing streak of the season, but broke a franchise-record 10-game losing skid on the road, notching its first win since July 12 at Montgomery.

Manu Olivera (3-6, 3.06) makes a fill-in start today at 8:05 p.m. against Anthony Lerew (3-2, 1.63).