Sunday, July 17, 2005

W 8-2

Huntsville, AL --- Josh Johnson pitched seven strong innings to earn his eighth win as Carolina moved into sole possession of the lead in the Northern Division, prevailing 8-2 in Huntsville on Sunday night.

Johnson (W, 8-4) yielded only one run on five hits and benefited from six early runs.  Michael Tucker (HR, 2) hit a two-run homer in the second, then Reggie Abercrombie (HR, 2) hit a solo shot in the third as the Mudcats (12-9, 53-36) built a 6-0 lead after four innings. 

The Mudcats reached double-figure hits for the third straight game, the first time that has occurred since the last week of May.  Frank Moore collected his second straight three-hit game, while Chris Bass, Abercrombie and Tucker each had two. 

Ross Wolf pitched a scoreless eighth, with Kevin Cave allowing a ninth inning run on three hits.

Carolina finished the season series taking nine of 15 from Huntsville (12-11, 41-51) and moved 1/2 game ahead of first half champ West Tenn and Tennessee, knocking the Stars into third, one game behind.

The Mudcats' road trip continues Monday night in Chattanooga with Nic Ungs (4-4, 3.71) starting against Phil Dumatrait (3-9, 2.89) at 7:15 PM ET.

CAROLINA            0 2 2   2 0 0   0 2 0    ---   8   13   0   12

CHATTANOOGA   0 0 0   0 0 0   1 0 1    ---    2     9   1    7

WP - Johnson (8-4)

LP - Habel (1-2)

S - None.

HR - Tucker (2), Abercrombie (2)

Time:  2:42

Att:  2,040