Kansas City Royals at Los Angeles Angels: Final Score & Recap
Line Score
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KC | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 0 |
| LAA | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 1 |
The Story
The Kansas City Royals held off the Los Angeles Angels 7-6 on August 14, 2026, at Angel Stadium, completing a comeback win that the DiamondIQ model had assessed as a 52 percent home-team proposition before first pitch. The Angels mounted a four-run third inning, with Nolan Schanuel's double off Seth Lugo delivering a 25.6 percent swing in win probability in Los Angeles's favor, and the home club appeared to be in firm control through the early stages. Kansas City answered decisively in the fifth, however, when Jac Caglianone launched a home run off Sammy Peralta that represented a 23.7 percent swing back toward the Royals, and they added two more runs that inning to retake the lead. Josh Lowe extended the Angels' threat in the sixth with a home run off Alex Lange, a 14.7 percent swing that kept Los Angeles within striking distance heading to the final frames.
The game's most consequential sequence came at the end. With Kansas City protecting a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, Steven Cruz recorded the final out by striking out Mike Trout, a moment the DiamondIQ model registered as a 27.0 percent win-probability swing and the single highest-impact plate appearance of the night. Earlier in the bottom of the eighth, Nate Pearson had struck out Josh Lowe in a critical spot, a minus-12.9 percent swing against the Angels that effectively extinguished their most dangerous late rally before it could take hold. The DiamondIQ model's estimate moved from that 52 percent pre-game home-win probability all the way to zero percent by game's end.
Caglianone finished as the game's top performer by WPA at plus-42.0 percent with a RE24 of plus-3.2, anchoring Kansas City's offensive contribution. Trout posted a plus-25.2 percent WPA figure despite a minus-0.5 RE24, a reflection of how heavily weighted his final strikeout was within the model's win-probability framework. On the pitching side, Nate Pearson led all arms at plus-23.3 percent WPA, with John Schreiber adding plus-9.7 percent and Ryan Watson contributing plus-3.6 percent as the Royals bullpen secured the one-run victory.