O's rally falls one run short, losing streak reaches 10 (with quotes)

SEATTLE - Well this was a unique way to lose a game and stretch a losing streak to 10, but the Orioles did it. Fall behind big, rally big, come up just short.

Frustrating indeed as they lost 10-9 at Seattle after trailing 10-3 after five innings. This time it did not come apart for the Orioles in the middle innings. It happened by the end of the home third. Their rally in the sixth and seventh was impressive but it did not produce a stirring comeback win, rather just yet another frustrating close loss.

The Orioles' 10-game losing streak is their longest since a 10-game streak from May 26-June 5, 2010. They've been outscored 90-37 during this streak.

The Orioles are 0-5 on this trip with two games to go and fall to 21-55 on the year. They've lost 14 of the last 16, 18 of 22 and 26 of the past 32 games.

Like last night, it started well.

With one out in the first against Seattle right-hander Mike Leake, four straight Orioles reached for a 3-0 lead. After Anthony Santander and Dwight Smith Jr. singled, a double to left by Pedro Severino made it 2-0. Chance Sisco singled to score Severino for the 3-0 edge. After that the O's offense went dormant until the sixth and by then they trailed 10-3.

Seattle scored once in the first and twice in the second off lefty Sean Gilmartin for a 3-3 tie. A five-run third made it 8-3. That inning featured Kyle Seager's two-run homer off Gilmartin and Domingo Santana's two-run double off Branden Kline.

By the end of the third, Seattle was 10-for-19 at the plate, 4-for-7 with runners in scoring position and had two doubles and two home runs. Through the third the top three in the Mariners order - Mallex Smith, J.P. Crawford and Santana - went 7-for-7 with two walks, four runs and five RBIs. For the night Smith went 3-for-3, walked twice and scored four runs. Crawford and Santana each drove in two.

But then the Orioles put together an unexpected and impressive rally. They had scored just nine runs total in the first four games of this trip and then they scored five in the sixth to pull within 10-8. That inning they batted 10 and scored on a Smith RBI single, Sisco RBI double, Hanser Alberto's RBI infield hit, an error and Stevie Wilkerson's RBI groundout.

An inning later they cut the lead to 10-9 and looked like they would get more. Santander doubled and Smith singled with no outs to put runners on the corners before Austin Adams came on for the Mariners. Severino smoked a single to left to pull the Birds within 10-9. But the rally fizzled with a Sisco strikeout and Alberto double play grounder.

Gilmartin allowed seven hits and five runs over 2 1/3 innings to take the loss. Kline gave up four runs over two innings and Tanner Scott allowed one run in 2/3 of an inning. Shawn Armstrong restored some order on the mound throwing scoreless ball in the sixth and seventh, setting up the offense to try and complete an amazing comeback.

But it fell short. The O's are winless since beating Toronto 4-2 June 11. They matched their run total of the last four games in one night, but they still could not win.

Postgame quotes:

Manager Brandon Hyde on the offense and comeback: "We scored nine runs and we did a nice job swinging the bat. Scoring three then giving runs right back can be demoralizing, especially when you are in our situation where you finally feel like you jumped out and there is a good vibe going. And then walks and runs that we gave up. But I just like the way our guys came back. I thought we swung the bat really well. We drove some balls tonight, which was awesome to see. We've had our share of singles lately, so for us to get the ball up in the air and drive the baseball was nice."

Gilmartin on his night: "Obviously not the way I wanted it to go. Made a couple mistakes and that's what happens. It's tough. You just have to go out there and try to get outs. You try to give the team three innings and that's all you can hope for. I went back out for that third and I got the first guy and things kind of fell through from there."

Severino on the comeback: "We fight, it's 27 outs and we fight during the game. It doesn't matter if we're losing, we just grind and grind and grind until the game is over. We had a great comeback right there and all my teammates did a great job."

Roster move: Gilmartin was optioned back to Triple-A after last night's game so a roster move to likely add another pitcher is coming before Saturday's game.