CARDS MAKE IT THREE STRAIGHT, CLINCH SERIES IN BRISTOL

BRISTOL, Va. - Will Guay picked up his first professional win, Dylan Pearce earned his first professional save, and Chandler Redmond hit another game-changing home run as the Cardinals clinched their series at Boyce Cox Field with a 4-2 win Thursday night over the Bristol Pirates.
Jake Sommers got the start for the Cardinals and held the Pirates to just one run over the first four innings. He left the bases loaded twice en route to a no-decision.
Down 1-0 in the second, Redmond got the Cardinal offense going with a leadoff double. He would score on an RBI single from Liam Sabino to even the game 1-1. In the third, the Cardinals took the lead when Diomedes Del Rio and Trejyn Fletcher went back-to-back with base hits. Del Rio scored after the Bucs threw the ball away following Fletcher's single to make it 2-1.
Guay (1-0) entered in the fifth and allowed a run that tied the game at 2-2 but also left a man on second. He struck out one.
The Cardinals seized the lead back in the sixth on the fifth home run of the season by Redmond, who slammed the first pitch he saw from Pirates relief man C.J. Dandeneau (1-1) to leadoff the inning. The Cardinals would later add an insurance run on a double by Sabino to score Todd Lott in the eighth.
Wilfredo Pereira stabilized the situation out of the bullpen with perfect sixth and seventh innings. He struck out two. Pearce allowed nothing more than a single in the eighth and ninth to pick up his first save. 
The win was the third straight for the Johnson City. The team will look for their second sweep - and first on the road - this season. The Cardinals (13-8) and Pirates (11-11) conclude the series tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. RHP Jose Moreno (1-2, 9.77 ERA) is expected to start for the Cardinals. The Pirates starter is TBD.
The full schedule for this season and season ticket information can be found online at jccardinals.com, or by calling the Cardinals Ticket Office at 423-461-4866.
ABOUT THE JOHNSON CITY CARDINALS
The Johnson City Cardinals are the Rookie affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. Members of the ten-team Appalachian League, Cardinals baseball has been entertaining families and fans of America's national pastime in the East Tennessee region for over 50 years. To learn more about the Johnson City Cardinals, visit www.jccardinals.com.
[STORY PHOTO BY ROBERT KELL]