SEVIERVILLE - Geovany Soto's rehab debut at Smokies Park couldn't have gone any better Monday night for the Tennessee Smokies.

His RBI-single in the first was the catalyst for the Smokies' 7-2 win over the Carolina Mudcats in front of 3,415. The win is the Smokies' eighth in a row and keeps them only a half-game behind Chattanooga for first in the Southern League North Division.

It took the Smokies a total of three pitches to put their first run on the board. Soto followed consecutive first-pitch singles by Jonathan Mota and Jim Adduci with one of his own in the bottom of the first. His single brought home Mota to give the Smokies an early 1-0 lead. Adduci would score in the frame on a Tyler Colvin single to right to make it 2-0 Tennessee.

The Chicago Cubs All-Star followed up his RBI-single in the first by looking at a called-third strike in the third. He would then lead off the fifth with a walk to finish 1-for-2 on the night.

The Smokies answered a Carolina run in the second with a run of their own in the fourth to pad their lead at 3-1.

Carolina meanwhile could muster very little against Tennessee starter Andrew Cashner. The Cubs' 2008 first-round pick stymied the Mudcats to the tune of one unearned run on two hits in six innings of work. He struck out eight and walked only one, lowering his already impressive ERA with the Smokies to 0.88.

Carolina and Tennessee square off in Game 4 of their five-game series tonight at Smokies Park.