Cards Comeback 6-5

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - The Johnson City Cardinals used a three-run eighth inning to comeback and beat the Burlington Royals 6-5 at Cardinal Park on Friday night.

In the sixth inning it seemed all life had been sucked out of the ballpark. Isaac Silva entered the game to pitch for Johnson City (24-22) and walked two runners after a catcher's interference to load the bases. Kevin Carlow then entered for the Cardinals and his first pitch of the night was belted out of the stadium by Leland Clemmons for a grand slam, which gave the Royals a 4-3 lead. Jose Martinez then followed the grand slam with a double. Two batters later, Josh Banuelos singled to right-center field to score Martinez and make it 5-3.

After the Royals big inning, Johnson City struggled to find offense as in the sixth and seventh they only sent seven batters to plate while three were struck out. The only base runner for the Cardinals was Charlie Neil, who got a free pass on a walk.

In the eighth, however, the momentum shifted. Anderson Gerdel entered the game to pitch for the Red Birds and sat Burlington down in order. Johnson City then came to the plate and Casey Grayson, Chris Rivera and Jesus Ustariz were able to walk the bases loaded with nobody out. Devante Lacy then grounded out to the third baseman to pickup the first RBI of the inning, while also picking up the first out. A wild pitch from Estarlin Cordero then tied the game, as Rivera crossed the plate when the ball went to the backstop. Cole Lankford pinch-hit for Anthony Ray in the inning and struck out for the Cardinals second out. Casey Turgeon answered, though, in a big position. Turgeon singled to right field for his third hit of the night, which scored Ustariz for the game-winning RBI and gave the Cards a 6-5 advantage.

Prior to the late-game drama, it was all Johnson City in the beginning. The Cardinals put two runs on the board in the first inning for the second straight night. Turgeon singled to center field then Blake Drake hit his fourth home run of the season over the left-field wall to make it 2-0 early.

The third run for Johnson City was also a home run. Oscar Mercado was able to go deep for the second time this season. Mercado had a solo home run with one out in the third inning over the left field wall also.

The starter for Johnson City, Landon Beck, went three full innings on the mound only giving up four hits and two walks while fanning four Burlington batters. Anderson Gerdel (3-0) got the win for the Cardinals. Gerdel pitched two scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth innings. Gerdel only allowed one hit and struck out one also. Estarlin Cordero fell to 1-1 and took the loss for Burlington.

Burlington and Johnson City return to Cardinal Park for the series finale at 7 p.m. on Saturday night. Johnson City will be looking to capture a sweep against Burlington for the first time since Aug. 28-30, 2011.