By Jessica Kwong

AP photo: The Los Angeles Angels Jefry Marte follows through for a grand slam off Oakland A’s starter Daniel Mengden in the fourth inning at Angels Stadium on Tuesday night

ANAHEIM-When it rains, it pours.

 That’s how Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Daniel Mengden described his performance – including seven runs he allowed in the fourth inning – in context of an 8-1 loss at Angel Stadium on Tuesday night.

 Mengden didn’t start off too bad on the mound.

 Mike Trout singled on a sharp line drive to right fielder Matt Olson and Kole Calhoun scored to give the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

 Mengden didn’t allow any runs in the following two innings. Then came the fourth inning.

 The Angels’ Jefry Marte hit his first career grand slam in the fourth inning, with Calhoun, Trout and Cron scoring. Juan Graterol doubled on a sharp ground ball to left fielder Danny Valencia and Andrelton Simmons scored. Then Kaleb Cowart grounded out and Rafael Ortega scored. Finally, Calhoun tripled on a sharp line drive to Valencia and Cliff Pennington scored, lifting the Angels 8-0 over the A’s.

 “The execution was terrible. Pitch quality was terrible. Just a terrible inning,” Mengden said. “Sucks to end that way. That’s not how I wanted it to happen, but when you fall behind good hitters like Trout, Calhoun and Cron, they’re going to do some damage.”

 A’s manager Bob Melvin said Mengden pitched a good fastball the first time through.

 “He was really aggressive getting ahead, looked like he had a lot of confidence on the mound and then got a couple guys out,” Melvin said. “And I think probably the grand slam took a bit of wind out of his sail.”

 Zach Neal relieved Mengden and in three innings allowed three hits, zero runs and got Trout out.

 “It felt good. That’s probably my best throw of the year, by far,” Neal said. “Anytime you get to throw a great (hitter) out, it’s better than a home run. That’s for sure.”

 The A’s saved some grace in the sixth inning, when Ryon Healy doubled on a sharp ground ball to Marte and Brett Eibner scored. Oakland could not score after that and took the 8-1 loss.

 By dropping seven of the last eight contests, Oakland fell to a 67-90 record, losing that many games for the second time in the club’s history.

 “You never want to finish like that, so I have a really bad taste in my mouth going into the offseason,” said Mengden, whose 2-9 record is the sixth-worst all time in the club’s history.

 He added that “it will be a grind this offseason” as players try to earn a spot for next season.

 First pitch for the final game in the series at Angel Stadium is 7:05 p.m. on Wednesday.