It was another night when O's players had to explain why they came up short

After the latest Orioles loss, pitchers Alex Cobb and Zach Britton held themselves accountable for their shortcomings, which led to their team's 56th defeat of the season. That was admirable and not surprising, coming from that veteran duo.

The frustrating part for players and fans alike is that the Orioles constant stream of losses keeps providing players plenty of opportunities to fall on the sword. Last night a potential feel-good win turned into a loss when Britton suffered a blown save.

That is twice in four games that Britton let a ninth-inning lead get away. This from a pitcher who was 15-for-17 last year and 47-for-47 in save chances in 2016. Friday he let a four-run lead get away in the ninth in Atlanta. That was not even a save situation, but last night was as the O's faced the Mariners. Britton gave up a two-run homer to Kyle Seager in the ninth to tie the game 7-7. Seattle won 8-7 in 11 innings.

Britton has allowed seven hits and six runs over 3 1/3 innings in his past four games. His ERA is 7.04 in eight games since he returned from the disabled list. Britton has had six scoreless outings as well, but even in those games he has not quite felt locked in yet this year.

"Yeah, I don't think there's been a game yet where I've felt, 'OK, that's it,'" he said. "You've just got to find a way to get to that point. Whatever it is. Playing catch before games and every time I get in a game, just really trying to be consistent with the delivery and not overthrow - which has kind of been an issue. Just going to work at it, that's all I can do. Just have to be better."

Britton hopes that when he does get the feel for his delivery that he is looking for, he can lock in over a long stretch.

"You go through it in spring, where you kind of feel out of whack for awhile. And then a couple outings it kind of clicks and you just roll with it. You know I expected it would take me some time to come back after the surgery, not having a spring. But, obviously, I want it to come now.

"So I'm just going to go through things I've done in the past. The routine and stuff. And hopefully, it gets here sooner than later. I just want to be better the next time I get on the mound. It's been a struggle, and tonight's been about as frustrated as I've been in a long time, so just try to be better when I get in. That's kind of my mindset right now."

Britton has allowed four hits in 13 at-bats (.308) against lefty batters. He has given up three hits in six at-bats when pitching with runners in scoring position. This is, right now, not the dominant groundball machine we are used to seeing.

"I think it's just a lot of rust," he said. "Trying to re-remember, like, being on the mound and how I was successful with the delivery. Finding a way where I'm at now physically to get the job done. Maybe it's not the way I was throwing a year ago or two years ago. I've got to find another way to make it happen. You can't be stubborn. You have to branch out and figure out 'How am I going to get back to (being) myself now?' and you have to be open minded about things I'll try. It's not anywhere close right now, so I've got a lot of work to do to get back to where I want to get to."

Had Britton held the lead in the ninth last night, Chris Davis would have been in the headlines for hitting a game-winner homer. His three-run shot in the eighth off Alex Colomé gave Baltimore a 7-5 lead. It was the first Oriole Eutaw Street homer since Pedro Álvarez hit one on Sept. 2, 2016. Davis is the all-time leader in Eutaw Street home runs, hitting 11 of the 96 hit there in ballpark history.

It would have provided a rare feel-good moment for Davis during what is so far a miserable season for him.

O's starter Cobb gave up five runs last night and said his own inconsistency is "unacceptable." He also talked about the Davis go-ahead homer that looked to be a game-winner but in the end was not.

"There's no secret that the season's not going according to plan, and it's one of the worst records in baseball right now," said Cobb, who has a 6.75 ERA. "But to be able to see guys come in every single day and take care of their business before the game and then fight and claw during the game, it says a lot about the individual person's personality, work ethic and attitude. Just want to win. We all want to win. It was a lot of fun to see CD go out there and deliver that big hit. I wish we could have won the game and had him be the headline of the night, but it was overall a really nice moment to see."

Seattle has won the first three games in this series by a combined four runs and is now 25-11 in one-run games. The Mariners are 7-0 in extra-inning games, and are the only major league team unbeaten in extra frames. According to ESPN Stats and Information, the Mariners have won 13 straight extra-inning games dating back to last season. That is the longest such streak since the Orioles won 17 in a row over the 2012-13 seasons.

The homers by Danny Valencia and Davis last night give the O's at least one homer in 11 straight games. That is the second longest streak of the year, behind a 12-game run May 6-19.

When this series began, Seattle had gone 3-7 in its previous 10 games, which came against the Red Sox and Yankees. Now they are 3-0 in this series and going for a sweep this afternoon.

The Orioles are 0-12 versus American League West teams, and 1-14 in their last 15 home games since May 16.