Chattanooga and Carolina went back-and-forth during the early portion of Friday night's game; however, the Lookouts were able to pull away, thanks to a two-run seventh inning, in a 4-3 victory before a soldout AT&T Field.
The Lookouts entered the scoreboard in the first. James Tomlin led off with a triple and eventually found his way home on a fielding error by Mudcats starting pitcher Travis Wood, who could not handle a comebacker up the middle.
Carolina tied the score in the top of the second in atypical fashion. Todd Frazier led of with a double and found his way to third on an Eric Eymann ground out. A balk committed by Lookouts starting pitcher J.D. Durbin enabled Frazier to score.
Russ Mitchell wasted little time getting the Lookouts back on top, as he blasted a solo shot to give Chattanooga a 2-1 lead.
The see-saw battle continued in third, as Jose Castro hit an RBI triple to, once again, tie up the score.
Both teams remained deadlocked until the seventh, when the Lookouts scored two runs, facilitated by some slopping pitching by Ruben Medina (1-4). Mitchell led off with a hit by pitch and trekked to third on a one-out single by Tommy Giles. A subsequent passed ball enabled Mitchell to score. A Medina wild pitch then advanced Giles to third. Red-hot Ramon Nivar followed with an RBI single to give the Lookouts a 4-2 edge.
Southern League All-Star Matt Sartor, despite giving up one run on three singles, was able to close the door in the ninth to pick up his seventh save of the season.
J.D. Durbin (1-2) earned the win for the Lookouts. In seven innings of work, he surrendered two runs on five hits and two walks. He struck out five in the outing.
The Chattanooga Lookouts will hit the road Saturday to play a four-game series against the Mobile BayBears.
Each game can be heard at AM Radio 1310 or over the internet by going to www.lookouts.com.