Hunter Dobbins had not been on the Cardinals' active roster heading into Wednesday. By the end of the night, he had delivered one of their better pitching performances of the month.
Recalled from Triple-A Memphis for the start, Dobbins scattered six hits over six innings, struck out five, and did not walk a single batter as St. Louis beat the Los Angeles Angels 1-0 in Anaheim. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Cardinals and ended a three-game winning streak for the Angels, according to a report by the Associated Press.
Dobbins did not have an easy time of it. He worked out of a first-and-third jam with two outs in the second inning, then escaped a two-on, one-out situation in the third, and faced first and third again with two outs in the fourth. That final jam ended when Cardinals third baseman Blaze Jordan reached into the third-base dugout to catch Tyler Heineman's popup.
On the other side, Angels starter Reid Detmers was just as effective through five innings. Detmers, listed as a potential trade target ahead of the August 3 deadline, held St. Louis to one hit through five frames despite walking two batters to open the fifth. Third baseman Vaughn Grissom bailed him out in that inning with a backhand diving stop on Jose Fermin's grounder, scrambling to the bag for a forceout and completing a double play.
The game stayed scoreless until the sixth. With one out, Detmers left a fastball up to JJ Wetherholt, who lined his 15th home run of the season over the center field wall. That was all the Cardinals would need.
Luis Gastelum threw a scoreless seventh, George Soriano handled a 1-2-3 eighth, and closer Riley O'Brien worked through trouble in the ninth. O'Brien struck out Oswald Peraza with an 80-mph sweeper and then got Josh Lowe with a 98-mph sinker with two runners on base to earn his 26th save.
Dobbins improved to 2-1 on the season. Detmers fell to 3-7.
St. Louis sends Michael McGreevy to the mound Thursday night at home against Arizona's Brandon Pfaadt.
