Sunday afternoon may not have been as hot as some have been recently, but it did nothing to cool off the Carolina Mudcats.Carolina scored a pair of runs in the ninth, beating the Jacksonville Suns 8-7 at Five County Stadium to win its fifth consecutive game.
- Photo by Nikolaus © 2010 Carolina Mudcats
- Carolina Mudcats outfielder Sean Henry
The Durham Bulls’ bid for a similar five-game streak didn’t go as well, as the Bulls fell 5-0 at Columbus.
The Mudcats have three more home games over the next three days against the Suns, who came to Zebulon on Saturday on an eight-game winning streak before dropping their last two. Tonight’s starter for Jacksonville will the rehabilitating southpaw Andrew Miller, who was the Detroit Tigers’ first-round pick in the 2006 draft.
The Bulls have two more games at Columbus before heading to Toledo for the last four games of their road trip.
Carolina led 6-1, then saw the visitors score the next six runs before the late rally.
Dave Sappelt was the hero for Carolina, smacking an 0-2, two-out pitch up the middle to score the tying and winning runs and get the victory for Jordan Smith (1-2).
Matt Peterson (3-2) took the loss.
Sean Henry led the Mudcats at the plate with a double and two singles for an RBI, while Jake Kahaulelio added a pair of doubles with an RBI and starting pitcher Daryl Thompson two hits with two RBI.
Tim Torres homered and singled for Jacksonville.
The Bulls outhit the Clippers 10-7 and Dan Johnson went 4-for-4 with a double, but they couldn’t consistently string them together in the loss.
Josh Tomlin (4-1) went six innings to pick up the win for Columbus, while Aneury Rodriguez (2-2) took the loss.
Carlos Santana homered and singled for three RBI for the Clippers, while Wes Hodges added a solo homer.
Monday’s games
Bulls at Columbus, 6:35 p.m.
Richard De Los Santos (R, 2-1, 4.34) vs. Mike Gosling (L, 2-0, 3.86)
Jacksonville at Mudcats, 7:15 p.m.
Andrew Miller (L, 1-1, 1.72 at Jupiter) vs. Tom Cochran (L, 2-1, 3.00)
