Texas Rangers at St. Louis Cardinals: Final Score & Recap
Line Score
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEX | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 0 |
| STL | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 0 |
The Story
The Texas Rangers erased a two-run deficit and pulled away late to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-4 at Busch Stadium on June 2, 2026, completing a decisive comeback that dropped the DiamondIQ model's estimate of a Cardinals win from 57 percent before first pitch all the way to zero. St. Louis held advantages through four innings, plating single runs in the second and fourth, but Texas flipped the game in the fifth when Joc Pederson delivered a double off Dustin May that shifted win probability by 13.7 percentage points in the Rangers' favor. The Cardinals briefly reclaimed momentum in the bottom of the seventh, with Jordan Walker's single off Nathan Eovaldi adding 19.2 points of win probability for St. Louis and Alec Burleson following with a double worth another 14.4 points, but Texas answered with a run of its own that inning to keep the game close heading into the final frame.
The Rangers broke the game open in the top of the ninth against Riley O'Brien, delivering three runs that extinguished any remaining Cardinals hope. Kyle Higashioka led the inning with a single that represented the single biggest swing of the night at plus 22.5 percentage points of win probability, and Joc Pederson added another single moments later worth 17.0 points, together accounting for a combined 39.5-point probability shift in that half-inning alone. Higashioka finished as the game's most impactful offensive player by the DiamondIQ model's measure, posting a WPA of plus 34.1 percent and a RE24 of plus 1.7, while Pederson ended the night at plus 30.4 percent WPA and a team-leading plus 2.3 RE24. Jimmy Crooks contributed a quiet but meaningful plus 14.3 percent WPA alongside a plus 1.5 RE24.
On the mound, the Rangers bullpen did the heavy lifting after Eovaldi absorbed the seventh-inning trouble. Jalen Beeks was the most valuable arm by the model's estimate, generating plus 28.0 percent WPA, with George Soriano adding plus 10.6 percent and Cal Quantrill contributing plus 8.2 percent as Texas closed out the Cardinals despite St. Louis finishing the game with a 13-to-9 hit advantage.