What’s happened to the Los Angeles Angels? They have been one of the better defensive teams in the majors this season, and a Mike Scioscia club is usually a heady bunch not prone to mental mistakes.

Yet, on two miserable nights in the Bronx, the Angels fumbled the ball. They committed three errors in the ALCS opener on Friday, a 4-1 loss, and that didn’t include the easy flyball off the bat of Hideki Matsui that inexplicably fell between infielders Chone Figgins and Erick Aybar in the first inning. With Johnny Damon racing home from second base on the play, someone should have been charged with an error on what should have been the third out of the opening frame.

A throwing error by left fielder Juan Rivera already had allowed Damon to advance to second, and the Angels were guilty of two errors when the Yankees tacked on an insurance run in the sixth inning. The biggest surprise might have been the miscue by center fielder Torii Hunter, who raced toward the infield and mishandled a grounder as he attempted to make a play on Melky Cabrera at the plate. Hunter had been charged with just one error all season.

The Angels have recorded three errors in a game only 50 times in the nearly 1,700 games managed by Scioscia. That’s a mere three percent of all games, regular season and postseason, and they saved No. 50 for the worst time. Not only is it October, but the Angels did against the Yankees, the team that averaged a major league-high 5.65 runs per game during the 2009 season. It’s the last team you give extra outs, as the Yanks will make you pay.

Although Game 2 went better for the Angels, they committed two more errors, marking only the seventh time in the last five seasons they had multiple errors in consecutive games. Los Angeles should have had a “W” after scratching for an 11th-inning run that gave them a 3-2 lead. That lead disappeared in the bottom half of the inning on an 0-2 mistake pitch from closer Brian Fuentes, which Alex Rodriguez deposited into the seats in right field.

Two innings later, another mistake cost the Angels the game. With Yankees on first and second with one out in the 13th, Cabrera stroked a grounder to the left of second baseman Maicer Izturis. The second sacker had made just four errors all year, but throwing across his body, Izturis’ errant toss to second base provided only the sixth walkoff error in postseason history. Shades of Bill Buckner.

The real error here was a mental one. The Angels simply needed an out on the play, as there was no chance of turning two. Throwing out Cabrera at first base would have worked just fine, leaving two runners in scoring position with two out. It would have been up to Ervin Santana to retire Jorge Posada to end the threat.

Today the Angels return home, where temps will run 30-40 degrees higher and the home team is 51-32, including the postseason. That’s not to say the weather can be blamed for the Angels’ poor defensive play, though it’s a shame teams play a six-month season and then toil for championships in entirely different conditions.

Bouncing back won’t be easy for the Angels. In the postseason, the Yankees are 14-3 all-time when winning the first two games of a best-of-seven series. These Yankees score in bunches, and if they have a late lead, it’s nearly impossible to beat Mariano Rivera.

The Angels must win Monday’s Game 3 to keep New York out of the driver’s seat. And maybe the next two home games as well. The Yankees are 35-8 at Yankee Stadium since the All-Star break, including playoff games, and they’ve won 10 of their last 11 there.

With New York poised to have home-field advantage the rest of the way -- and Game 4 of the World Series scheduled for Nov. 1 -- we may be calling the Yankees the Boys of Winter when the postseason ends.