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.
“It just sucks,” Angels starting pitcher Tyler Anderson said. “Being up right there and with the lead going to the seventh, we want to hold on to it and be celebrating that instead of in a bad mood.”
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 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.
“I felt like he was in a good spot at the bottom of the order, especially given the three-run lead right there,” interim manager Ray Montgomery said. “See how it went when he went back out. I thought he had a few walks on the night, but there were some calls that I thought were missed that weren’t reflective of how he was pitching. So I felt good about it.”
Anderson started the inning by walking No. 8 hitter Francisco Alvarez after getting ahead of him, 0-and-2. Anderson said that was a “stupid” way to start the inning.
“Challenge the guy to hit a homer 700 feet if he can, with a three-run lead,” Anderson said.
Anderson then he gave up a single to Luisangel Acuña.
Montgomery then summoned left-hander Reid Detmers, who has been the Angels’ best reliever for the last three months. 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.
O’Hoppe would not place on blame on Moncada for a wide throw.
“I have to catch the ball, bottom line,” he said.
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.
“It’s frustrating,” O’Hoppe said. “We’ve gotta win games in the second half. That’s the bottom line. We’re over good looks. We’re over good signs. We gotta win games.”
Whether or not O’Hoppe wants to acknowledge it, there is a positive in the fact that the Angels are generating these 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.
O’Hoppe got the scoring started with a home run in the second, his 18th of the season.
In the third, 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.
“We were in a pretty good position to take the game there,” Montgomery said, “and we just didn’t get it done at the end.”