KINGSPORT — The Johnson City Cardinals stared into the face of elimination two nights in a row at Hunter Wright Stadium and took it head on. The Cards won a thrilling Appalachian League West division de facto title game 9-7 and will be playing the Bristol Pirates beginning Friday. The Mets were eliminated from contention when Bristol defeated Danville 4-2. The offense got started early for the Cardinals as Diomedes Del Rio hit Johnson City’s fourth grand slam of the season in the top of the second on an 0-2 pitch. The fifth-through-eighth hitters in the lineup for Johnson City were a combined 8-for-18 with eight runs scored and accounted for seven of the eight RBIs handed out. METS GET BACK IN IT Kingsport fought back to score four runs in the third and tied the game. Wilfred Astudillo smoked a ball down the right field line for a three-run home run with two outs.