NEW YORK — Everything was going well for the Angels … until it wasn’t.
The Angels scored the first four runs of the game and still led by three in the seventh inning, only to lose, 7-5, to the New York Mets on Monday night.
It was a crushing loss for the Angels (49-51), who are perilously close to falling out of the wild card race as they approach the July 31 trade deadline. The Angels began the day four games out of the last of the three American League wild-card spots.
The hitters have been productive lately, including a second straight game in which they knocked around an elite starter, but the pitching staff and the defense faltered at the end.
The Angels led 5-2 when starter Tyler Anderson took the mound in the seventh, the first time since May 6 that he had pitched beyond the sixth. The Mets had the bottom of the order due.
Anderson walked No. 8 hitter Francisco Alvarez and then he gave up a single to Luisangel Acuña.
Left-hander Reid Detmers, who has been the Angels best reliever for the last three months, then came to the mound.
Detmers hit a batter to load the bases. He got a ground ball that scored one run. Juan Soto then punched a ground ball single into center field, driving in two to tie the score, 5-5.
In the eighth, José Fermin walked Brett Baty and then gave up a double to Alvarez. Left-hander Brock Burke entered to face Acuña. He hit a sharp grounder to third baseman Yoán Moncada, whose throw home was too wide for catcher Logan O’Hoppe to handle, as the go-ahead run scored. The Mets added an insurance run on a sacrifice fly.
The Angels have lost two of their first four games out of the All-Star break, both times giving up multi-run leads.
The good news is that the hitters are producing those leads.
On Sunday the Angels scored six runs against Philadelphia Phillies lefty Ranger Suarez, who brought a 2.15 ERA into the game, and on Monday they beat up on Mets right-hander Kodai Senga, whose ERA was 1.39.
The Angels knocked out Senga after three innings, scoring four runs.
Logan O’Hoppe hit a home run in the second, his 18th of the season.
In the second, there were two outs and a runner at first when the Angels began their rally. Mike Trout walked and then Taylor Ward yanked a two-run double into left field. Jo Adell followed with an RBI single.
Ward added another RBI with a single in the seventh inning, putting the Angels ahead 5-2.
More to come on this story.