Jesus Rodriguez pitched one-hit baseball over six innings to lead the Jacksonville Suns past the Carolina Mudcats 5-3 on Thursday night at the Baseball Grounds before 11,481 fans.

Rodriguez (W, 1-1), making his second Double-A start, permitted just a third inning double to John Raynor, striking out eight.

The Suns (8-8) took a 1-0 lead in the second against Brett Sinkbeil (L, 3-8) on a single by Adolfo Gonzalez. The Suns added two more against Sinkbeil in the sixth on a run-scoring hit by Russell Mitchell and a sacrifice fly by Gonzalez.

After Carolina (8-8) fell behind 5-0 heading into the eighth, the Mudcats made a run at the Suns' bullpen. Gaby Sanchez doubled home two two-out runs, then the Mudcats brought the leading run to the plate in the ninth against closer Eduardo Sierra (S, 7), but Raynor fanned and Brad Davis lined to right. Davis entered the game with a 2-2 count after Cameron Maybin appeared to pull a muscle in his lower left back swinging on a 2-1 pitch.

The Mudcats remain three games behind first-place Tennessee heading home to host the Smokies on Independence Day at 7:15 PM ET. Josh Johnson (0-1, 5.73) makes his third major league rehab start for the Mudcats oppostie Esmailin Caridad (2-0, 2.60) for Tennessee.