April 18, 2026 · AL West
St. Louis Cardinals vs Houston Astros
vs
Scoring summary
| INN | BATTER | PLAY | SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Nolan Gorman | Nolan Gorman singles on a ground ball to right fielder Cam Smith. JJ Wetherholt scores. Iván Herrera scores. Jordan Walker to 3rd. Nolan Gorman to 2nd. Nolan Gorman advances to 2nd, on a fielding error by right fielder Cam Smith. | STL 2, HOU 0 |
| B1 | Yordan Alvarez | Yordan Alvarez homers (9) on a fly ball to center field. | STL 2, HOU 1 |
| T3 | Masyn Winn | Masyn Winn homers (1) on a fly ball to left field. Nolan Gorman scores. | STL 4, HOU 1 |
| T6 | José Fermín | José Fermín homers (1) on a fly ball to left center field. | STL 5, HOU 1 |
| T7 | Alec Burleson | Alec Burleson homers (3) on a fly ball to right center field. | STL 6, HOU 1 |
| T8 | JJ Wetherholt | JJ Wetherholt singles on a soft ground ball to third baseman Shay Whitcomb. | STL 7, HOU 1 |
| B8 | Christian Walker | Christian Walker grounds into a double play, second baseman JJ Wetherholt to first baseman Alec Burleson. Jose Altuve scores. Yordan Alvarez to 3rd. Carlos Correa out at 2nd. Christian Walker out at 1st. | STL 7, HOU 2 |
| B9 | Shay Whitcomb | Shay Whitcomb homers (1) on a fly ball to center field. Cam Smith scores. Christian Vázquez scores. | STL 7, HOU 5 |
Box score
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STL | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| HOU | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
Pitching & bullpen
How the game was pitched — the starters, the bullpen sequence and each arm's role, and the pitch counts behind them.
Cardinals
AWAY
7
Andre Pallante started for Cardinals, leaving with a 4–1 lead. Out of the bullpen, George Soriano took the roughest line.
workload · innings pitched
-
Andre Pallante
Starter
5.0
87
1
5
W
Pitch-by-pitch: what Andre Pallante threw
CSW 24% 1st-pitch strike 62% 4.1 pitches/PAPitch # % Whiff CS Foul Ball In play Sinker 30 34% 3 4 8 9 6 Slider 24 28% 2 1 3 14 4 Knuckle Curve 17 20% 3 3 2 9 0 Four-Seam Fastball 13 15% 1 4 1 4 3 Splitter 3 3% 0 0 0 3 0 - Gordon Graceffo Middle 2.0 26 0 1
- Matt Svanson Middle 1.0 24 1 1
- George Soriano Setup 0.1 17 3 1
- Riley O'Brien Closer 0.2 7 0 1 SV
Astros
HOME
5
Lance McCullers Jr. started for Astros, leaving trailing 1–4. Out of the bullpen, Colton Gordon took the roughest line.
workload · innings pitched
-
Lance McCullers Jr.
Starter
5.0
91
4
4
L
Pitch-by-pitch: what Lance McCullers Jr. threw
CSW 29% 1st-pitch strike 60% 3.6 pitches/PAPitch # % Whiff CS Foul Ball In play Sweeper 22 24% 3 2 2 12 3 Sinker 21 23% 2 7 2 6 4 Cutter 20 22% 1 6 5 4 4 Changeup 16 18% 2 1 4 6 3 Knuckle Curve 11 12% 2 0 2 5 2 Four-Seam Fastball 1 1% 0 0 1 0 0 - Colton Gordon Reliever 2.2 64 3 5
- AJ Blubaugh Middle 1.1 16 0 2 inherited 1, stranded 1
Where the game turned
2 runs
- Gorman 1B (2)
Batting lines
AWAY · STL
| BATTER | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JJ Wetherholt 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .236 | .380 | .375 | .755 | |
| Iván Herrera C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .214 | .398 | .357 | .755 | 2B |
| Alec Burleson 1B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .299 | .389 | .481 | .870 | HR (3), 2B |
| Jordan Walker RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .312 | .376 | .662 | 1.038 | SB |
| Nolan Gorman DH | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .222 | .292 | .365 | .657 | |
| Masyn Winn SS | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | .190 | .319 | .293 | .612 | HR (1) |
| Ramón Urías 3B | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .194 | .310 | .444 | .754 | |
| Nathan Church LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .217 | .260 | .304 | .564 | |
| José Fermín LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .250 | .350 | .438 | .788 | HR (1) |
HOME · HOU
| BATTER | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jose Altuve 2B | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .278 | .394 | .468 | .862 | |
| Yordan Alvarez LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .342 | .485 | .789 | 1.274 | HR (9), 2B |
| Carlos Correa SS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .264 | .354 | .375 | .729 | |
| Christian Walker 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .263 | .352 | .500 | .852 | |
| Isaac Paredes DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .186 | .314 | .254 | .568 | |
| Taylor Trammell CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .292 | .370 | .333 | .703 | SB |
| Cam Smith RF | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .257 | .356 | .446 | .802 | |
| Christian Vázquez C | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .375 | .444 | .688 | 1.132 | |
| Shay Whitcomb 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | .143 | .250 | .571 | .821 | HR (1) |
Pitching lines
AWAY · STL
| PITCHER | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | NP | ERA | DEC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andre Pallante | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 87 | 4.05 | W |
| Gordon Graceffo | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 0.87 | |
| Matt Svanson | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 13.50 | |
| George Soriano | 0.1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 4.82 | |
| Riley O'Brien | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0.00 | SV |
HOME · HOU
| PITCHER | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | NP | ERA | DEC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lance McCullers Jr. | 5.0 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 91 | 6.20 | L |
| Colton Gordon | 2.2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 64 | 9.95 | |
| AJ Blubaugh | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 7.07 |
Manager comparison
AWAY · STL
Lineup 2.1 R
Bunts 2.3 R
IBBs 1.2 R
HOME · HOU
Lineup 3.9 R
Bunts 1.1 R
IBBs 0.5 R
Recent form
AWAY · STL
5-5
W2
-6 run diff
WWLLLWWLWL
HOME · HOU
6-4
L1
-5 run diff
LWLWWWLLWW
Keep reading
How RunsLeft analyzes games
Standard content on this page comes from the MLB Stats API. The pitching analysis describes how the game was pitched — the starter's line, the bullpen sequence and each arm's role (opener, bulk, setup, closer), pitch counts as a fatigue signal, and the leverage context where the game turned. Reliever roles are inferred from how the manager used each arm up to that date. It describes structure and constraints; it does not grade the manager.