St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Angels: Final Score & Recap
Line Score
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| LAA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
The Story
The St. Louis Cardinals shut out the Los Angeles Angels 1-0 at Angel Stadium on July 22, 2026, holding the home side to seven hits while generating just three of their own. The DiamondIQ model's estimate had the Angels entering with a 42% chance of winning and closed at 0%, a complete collapse that unfolded across a series of late-inning confrontations. The Cardinals' lone run came in the top of the sixth inning when JJ Wetherholt connected on a home run off Reid Detmers, a swing that shifted win probability 14.3 points in St. Louis's favor and ultimately proved to be all the offense either side would need.
The Angels mounted their most credible threats in the fifth and ninth innings but could not convert. José Fermín's groundout into a double play in the top of the fifth — a 12.9-point swing against the Cardinals — briefly dampened St. Louis momentum, though the damage was contained. Reid Detmers nonetheless finished as the Angels' most effective pitching contributor, generating 15.1 WPA points despite surrendering the decisive home run. In the ninth, closer Riley O'Brien entered a scoreless frame and delivered, striking out Josh Lowe and Oswald Peraza in back-to-back appearances; Lowe's punchout added 18.8 points in Cardinals' favor while Peraza's swung 14.9 points back toward the Angels, illustrating how tightly contested the final frame remained.
On the Cardinals side, pitcher Hunter Dobbins led all players with 26.0 WPA points, and George Soriano contributed 23.3 WPA points in relief, including navigating a critical Nolan Schanuel groundout in the eighth that swung 12.9 points away from the Angels. Among batters, Josh Lowe finished with a team-high 24.9 WPA points despite his late strikeout, while Wade Meckler added 14.6 WPA points and Wetherholt rounded out the top three at 10.0. The Cardinals' pitching staff collectively suppressed the Angels despite the seven-hit performance, and the DiamondIQ model favors St. Louis's late-game execution as the defining factor in this narrow shutout victory.