Mudcats win sixth straight

Published in Sports on August 10, 2006 2:11 PM

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ZEBULON -- Lee Mitchell hit a tie-breaking homer in the seventh inning to spur Carolina to its seventh straight win, 3-2 over the Birmingham Barons at Five County Stadium on Wednesday night.

Mitchell drove a pitch from reliever Arnie Munoz (1-4) against the right-centerfield scoreboard to break a 2-2 tie and keep the Mudcats (20-26) perfect on their homestand through six games.

James Russ (6-8) earned his first win since July 2, working seven innings, allowing two runs and fanning five.

Scott Tyler and Christopher Young (S, 8) each threw a hitless inning to seal the victory.

Birmingham's Mark Quinn hit a two-run homer to open the scoring in the fourth, but Carolina pushed across a run in the fifth on a wild throw from catcher Wally Rosa up the right field line in an attempt to pickoff Rex Rundgren.

In the sixth, Kevin Randel scored on a balk from Munoz.

Carolina remained seven games behind first-place Tennessee, which also won on Wednesday night. There are 24 games remaining in the second half.

Paul Mildren (10-7, 3.88) starts tonight against Wes Whisler (0-1, 2.63) at 7:15 p.m. at Five County.