Rare bullpen hiccup leads to loss to Angels

ANAHEIM — They’ve been the backbone of the Mariners’ August hot streak, the bullpen group keeping things together even while the rotation has undergone a churn of change. But on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium, that formula got flipped as Seattle saw its momentum stymied for a night in a 7-6 loss to their American League West rivals.

The Halos launched three home runs in their final three innings off relievers Nick Vincent and Arquimedes Caminero, then finished things off with a go-ahead RBI triple by Cliff Pennington as Seattle suffered just its third loss in 14 games.

There’d been a growing sense of invincibility with this group of relievers since flame-throwing rookie Edwin Diaz took over the closing role and Caminero — who fires his own 100-mph heat — was acquired by trade. The bullpen had an MLB-leading 1.25 ERA while holding opponents to a .185 batting average over the previous 14 games.

But there’s no such thing as being unbeatable in baseball and Caminero — who had allowed just three hits and no runs in his first six innings with the club — knows that as well as anyone.

“It’s a battle,” Caminero said after taking the loss by allowing two runs on three hits in the eighth. “I’m not going to win all the time. It happens.”

The irony is that Caminero appeared ready to protect a 6-5 lead when he opened the eighth by striking out Mike Trout and getting Albert Pujols to pop out to Robinson Cano. But …

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