Cardinals defeat Blue Jays on walk-off passed ball!

Cardinals win on past ball with two outs in the 12th inning

Johnson City, TN - The Johnson City Cardinals beat the Appalachian League-leading Bluefield Blue Jays 2-1 Friday night.

The Cardinals and Blue Jays combined to throw six scoreless innings before Bluefield, who entered the game with a 33-14 record, broke up the shutout bid in the top 7th when Blue Jays first baseman Matt Dean, who reached after being hit by a pitch,was driven in by Jorge Saez's RBI double to center field.

Johnson City starter Blake McKnight gave the Cardinals a solid start, going 6.2 innings and allowing four hits while only giving up one run and striking out a career-high seven. After the shutout bid was broken up in the seventh, Zach Loraine came out of the bullpen and contributed 2.1 hitless innings while striking out four, allowing the Cardinals to get back in the game.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom 9th, Johnson City needed one to push the game into extras. With one out Rowan Wick stepped up to the plate and provided exactly what the Cardinals needed with a solo home run over the left field wall. The home run, his fifth of the season, knotted the game at 1-1 and pushed the contest into extras.

Then with two outs in the bottom of the 12th and Leandro Mateo on third for Johnson City, a past ball through the legs of Bluefield catcher Andres Sotillo opened to door for the Cardinals infielder to slide home and give his team the victory.           

Wick led the Cardinals offensively, going 2 for 3 at the plate with his solo homerun that tied the game in the bottom 9th.

The Cardinals pitchers combined to strike out 14 Blue Jays while giving up only six hits and walked just one batter on the night.

Johnson City and Bluefield play game two of the series Saturday night with first pitch scheduled for 6:00.