ST. PETERSBURG -- It was a frustrating game of missed opportunities, defensive breakdowns and blown leads for the Angels on Tuesday.

The Angels appeared headed toward a sure victory, leading the Rays by two runs with two outs in the ninth when closer Carlos Estévez induced a grounder up the middle from Harold Ramírez. It was a tough play to his right for second baseman Luis Rengifo, but he couldn’t quite make it, and it opened the floodgates for Tampa Bay. Two batters later, Estévez gave up a game-tying two-run triple to José Caballero to send the game to extra innings.

It only got more exasperating from there for the Angels in a 7-6 loss in 13 innings, as they wasted several scoring chances and still took the lead in the 10th, 11th and 13th innings but couldn’t hold the Rays at bay. Long reliever Carson Fulmer held the Rays scoreless in the 12th and was one out away from protecting a one-run lead in the 13th, only to allow a game-tying double to Richie Palacios and a walk-off infield single to Amed Rosario on a slow grounder to third to end it.

“We had opportunities to win, they had opportunities to win, and we kept going back and forth, but they beat us,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “I liked the way my guys hung in there and kept coming back and kept fighting. At the end, somebody had to win, and they did, but we’ll be back tomorrow.”

The Angels played mostly clean baseball until the ninth inning and extras and looked like they were on their way to a win until Rengifo booted the grounder in the ninth. But Washington said it was a tough play and didn’t blame Rengifo for not making it.

“Any time a ball is hit on the infield and it hits their glove, you want them to make it, but that wasn’t an easy play,” Washington said. “It wasn’t a routine play. Even if he came up with it, he might’ve had trouble getting the guy at first base.”

The Angels regrouped to score in the 10th on a wild pitch and right-hander José Cisnero was brought in with reliever Adam Cimber unavailable after pitching in two straight games. Cisnero also looked like he was about to get out of trouble with runners at the corners with one out, as he fielded a comebacker but made an errant throw to first after the runner broke for home. Cisnero escaped further trouble but it was another costly defensive miscue.

“I just think he just made a bad decision,” Washington said. “He caught the ball and the guy was right there. He has to be able to judge if he can get him or not. And he just got caught in between. If he makes that play, we could’ve won the game, but that’s just the way baseball is.”

The Angels had another chance to put it away in the 11th when they loaded the bases with nobody out with Monday’s hero Mike Trout at the plate. But Trout popped out before Taylor Ward hit a deep drive to center that was snared by Jose Siri to save the game for the Rays and hold the Angels to just a sacrifice fly.

After Cisnero gave up another run in the 11th, both clubs were held scoreless in the 12th, including a strong showing from Fulmer. But after the Angels took the lead again in the 13th on an RBI single from Zach Neto, Fulmer had to go back out for the bottom of the frame.

Fulmer, who grew up in nearby Lakeland, Fla., nearly picked up the win, but was instead saddled with the hard-luck loss after leaving a fastball up to Palacios and getting beat on an infield single.

“This one stings, this one definitely does,” Fulmer said. “Especially with how hard we fought. But I’ll definitely take advantage of the next opportunity.”

Estévez was similarly optimistic, as he said he believes the Angels have been resilient early this season and will bounce back. It was the first blown save of the year for Estévez, who entered with a 0.00 ERA in five innings, but he still was pleased with the way the Angels battled after the ninth inning.

“I really like the way we approached the game,” Estévez said. “It’s unfortunate we lost on a weak grounder. But I like the way we attacked in extras and never gave up.”