The St. Louis Cardinals (3-1) dropped their first game of the season, losing to the Los Angeles Angels (3-1) 5-4 on Monday night at Busch Stadium. The game saw a record-low announced attendance of just 21,206 fans, and continued struggles at the plate for Masyn Winn, who went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.
The Cardinals are off to a good start this year, but that hasn't stopped fans from sending a message to ownership.
— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) April 1, 2025
The announced attendance of 21,206 at Busch Stadium III tonight is the smallest crowd in stadium history. #STLCards
Game Recap
Miles Mikolas started for the Cardinals, allowing two hits and two walks over five innings. The Cardinals got on the board first with a leadoff home run from Lars Nootbaar off Angels' starter Tyler Anderson. In the second inning, Brendan Donovan added a solo home run, giving St. Louis a 2-0 lead.
Angels Respond
The Angels cut the lead to 2-1 in the third when Kyren Paris walked, stole second, and later scored on a sacrifice fly. In the fifth, Nootbaar walked, and Nolan Arenado singled to score Nootbaar, extending the lead to 3-1. However, Arenado was thrown out at second to end the inning.
Mikolas was relieved by Chris Roycroft in the sixth after giving up a single and a walk. Roycroft allowed a sacrifice fly, making it 3-2. In the seventh, Ryan Fernandez allowed a triple to Paris that tied the game 3-3.
The game stayed tied through the eighth, with Phil Maton striking out all three batters he faced. In the bottom of the eighth, the Cardinals had runners on first and second but couldn’t capitalize, as Winn grounded into a fielder’s choice.
Joe Puetz-Imagn Images
Mar 31, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) throws to first for an out against the Los Angeles Angels in the sixth inning at Busch Stadium.
Extra Frame
In the tenth, JoJo Romero walked Paris and allowed a sacrifice grounder, followed by another that scored Paris, giving the Angels a 4-3 lead. Mike Trout’s sacrifice bunt led to a double play, but Paris crossed the plate to make it 5-3. The Cardinals answered with a run in the bottom of the tenth when Victor Scott II’s sacrifice fly scored the ghost runner, Pagés, to cut the lead to 5-4. However, Winn struck out to end the game.
Cold Cards
Masyn Winn went 0-for-5 with 2 strikeouts, bringing his season total to 0-for-14 with 7 strikeouts.
Willson Contreras went 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts, extending his season slump to 0-for-18 with 8 strikeouts.
The mini hot-streak for the Cardinals comes to an end as Angels ML (+136) cashes, while the total score just crept OVER 8 (-108) in extras.
Next Up
The Cardinals will look to bounce back in game two of the series on Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. CST. Matthew Liberatore will start for St. Louis, while Kyle Hendricks will debut for the Angels.