Arizona Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Angels: Final Score & Recap

The Los Angeles Angels defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-1 on March 2, 2024, at Tempe Diablo Stadium, with the DiamondIQ model's estimate of a home win moving from 54% before the first pitch to a certainty by the final out. Arizona managed to scratch across a single run on six hits, but an error and a costly double-play ball kept the offense from generating any sustained threat against an Angels pitching staff that held firm through nine innings.

The Angels built their lead through a series of high-leverage moments in the middle innings. Aaron Hicks delivered the most impactful offensive swing of the game, connecting for a home run off Kyle Nelson in the bottom of the sixth that shifted win probability by 14.8 percentage points in Los Angeles's favor. The very next frame, a field error charged against Andrew Saalfrank on a Zach Neto plate appearance added another 15.4 points to the Angels' advantage, and Cole Fontenelle followed with a double off Peter Strzelecki in the eighth worth 12.3 points, effectively sealing the outcome. Arizona's most meaningful moment came in the top of the seventh, when Andrés Chaparro doubled off Guillo Zuñiga to move the needle 9.4 points toward the visitors, though the D-backs could not convert. Chaparro had also been the center of the game's most damaging Arizona sequence, grounding into a double play off Andrew Wantz in the fourth to suppress a potential rally by 7.6 points.

By the numbers, Zach Neto led all position players with a WPA of plus-16.9 and an RE24 of plus-1.1, while Fontenelle and Chad Wallach contributed plus-12.3 and plus-11.9 WPA respectively. On the mound, Luis García paced the Angel pitchers at plus-10.8 WPA, followed by Logan Allen at plus-9.5 and Andrew Wantz at plus-8.4, the three of them combining to neutralize what little Arizona could muster offensively across the afternoon.