ANAHEIM, Calif. (Interstat) — JJ Wetherholt’s solo home run in the sixth inning was the only offense the St. Louis Cardinals needed as they edged the Los Angeles Angels 1-0 on Wednesday evening at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

Wetherholt, the Cardinals’ second baseman, led off the top of the sixth with his 15th homer of the season, a fly ball to center field off Angels starter Reid Detmers. That lone hit against Detmers proved decisive, as St. Louis avoided a three-game sweep and improved to 52-49. Los Angeles, which had won the first two games of the series, dropped to 41-62.

The game was a pitchers’ duel from the outset. St. Louis starter Hunter Dobbins (2-1) worked six scoreless innings, scattering six hits while striking out five and walking none. He faced minimal trouble, thanks in part to two double plays turned by the Cardinals defense. The Angels managed seven hits against Dobbins and three relievers but could not push a run across.

Detmers (3-7) was the hard-luck loser, allowing two hits and one earned run over 5⅓ innings. He struck out six and walked two, but Wetherholt’s homer was the only blemish on his line. After Detmers departed, three Angels relievers — Mitch Farris, José Fermín and Kirby Yates — combined for 2⅔ perfect innings, but the Angels offense could not capitalize.

The Angels had their best scoring chance in the second inning. Wade Meckler singled to center, and Oswald Peraza followed with a single that moved Meckler to third. But Josh Lowe grounded out to first base to end the inning.

In the fourth, Meckler singled again and later advanced to third on a single by Lowe, but Tyler Heineman popped out in foul territory to strand both runners.

The Cardinals managed only three hits overall — Wetherholt’s homer, a first-inning single by Blaze Jordan and a seventh-inning single by Masyn Winn. St. Louis went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position, but the one blast was enough.

Riley O’Brien pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his 26th save of the season. He worked around two walks by striking out two, including Josh Lowe on a foul tip with runners on first and second to end the game.

The game took 2 hours, 32 minutes in front of an announced crowd of 25,187.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of St. Louis 4, Los Angeles 3, and Interstat’s ELO system gave St. Louis a 57.30 percent probability to win. The Cardinals were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total score of one run went over the over-under line of nine.