Greenville, SC - Kevin Cave hit Brayan Pena with the bases loaded in the ninth inning to send the Greenville Braves past the Carolina Mudcats 9-8 at Municipal Stadium on Tuesday night.

The Braves (5-14) scored twice in the eighth against Randy Messenger (ND, 1IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 1W, 2K) on the second of two homers by Bill McCarthy, slicing the Mudcats (9-10) lead to 8-7.

In the ninth, Cave (L, 0-2, 0.1IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 1W, 1K) allowed a leadoff double to Andy Marte, then a game-tying single to James Jurries. Kelly Johnson followed with a single to right, sending Jurries to third. After an intentional walk filled the bases, Cave fanned McCarthy. Then ahead on Pena 0-2, Cave hit him in the front leg to force in the winning run.

Carolina remains five games behind Jacksonville in the East, but fell under .500 for the first time since becoming a Marlins affiliate in 2003.

The Mudcats scored three in the first inning against Zach Miner. Eric Reed (2-4, 2R, 3B, W, K, SB, CS) tripled to left-center, then scored on the first of three doubles from Josh Wilson (3-5, 3R, 3-2B, 3RBI, K). Miner walked two batters before a sacrifice fly by Chip Ambres (2-3, 2B, RBI, SF, W, K) and a grounder by Pat Magness (0-4, 2RBI, W, K) scored runs.

McCarthy hit a three-run homer in the second against Mudcats starter Ronald Belizario (ND, 4IP, 6H, 4R, 4ER, 4W, 3K) to tie the game.

The Braves moved ahead 4-3 in the third inning on the third of three consecutive singles. Jurries knocked in Tony Pena Jr. after Pena and Marte singled to start the inning.

In the fifth, Carolina took the lead on a two-run double by Wilson, which was laced away from centerfielder Cory Aldridge, who managed to get a glove on the shot. Pinch-hitter Michael Tucker (1-1, R, 2B), who doubled to start the inning, and Reed scored for a 5-4 lead. Wilson would score later in the inning on a bases-loaded walk to Magness.

The Mudcats seemingly put the game away on a two-run single in the eighth by Jason Stokes (1-3, 2RBI, 2W, 2K) for an 8-5 lead.

Peter Bauer (1-0, 1.13) starts the second game of the set Wednesday night against Greenville lefty Macay McBride (0-2, 6.20) at 7:15 PM ET.

Carolina 3 0 0 0 3 0 2 0 0 --- 8 11 0 10
Greenville 0 3 1 0 1 0 0 2 2 --- 9 14 0 10

WP - Barry (2-0)
LP - Cave (0-2)
S - None.

HR - Marte (3), McCarthy 2 (3, 4)
Time: 3:29
Att: 1,336

Notes: Reed extended his team-best hitting streak to seven games with a first inning triple, and later swiped his league-leading 10th base in the eighth inning... Wilson's three doubles were one short of the all-time Southern League record, set in 1994... Billy Hall, who was returned to Double-A Carolina from Albuquerque after Monday's game, entered as a pinch-runner in the ninth inning with two outs with Carolina leading 8-7, but did not get the opportunity to steal when Jimmy Goelz grounded out on the first pitch he saw... Mike McNutt worked his longest outing of the season, pitching three innings, allowing only a homer to Marte in the fifth inning. McNutt fanned four batters against no walks, and now has fanned 20 in 12 1/3 innings, penciling to 14.6 strikeouts per nine innings.... Former Mudcat Matt Holliday hit his third major league homer for the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night against the Marlins at Coors Field... Greenville starter Zach Miner allowed six earned runs in four-plus innings, sending his ERA to 12.14 after five appearances, four starts with the Braves.... Braves hitting coach Mel Roberts was in uniform for the teams' first meeting of 2004, and is in the process of radiation therapy for a recently diagnosed battle against prostate cancer. Roberts will not travel with the club until his seven-week treatment is over at the earliest.

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