SEATTLE -- First and third with no outs in a meaningful October game is familiar territory that Mariners fans have been in before, regardless of how long it’s been since "The Double" left the bat of Edgar Martinez way back in 1995.

There was an opportunity for history to repeat itself in similar fashion on Friday in front of a sellout crowd so thirsty to burst into a go-ahead frenzy, so hungry in the midst of their nearly two-decade playoff drought. Yet, the 44,169 fans on hand were left empty-handed -- and, as such, Seattle’s season is now in peril following a 2-1 loss to the Angels at T-Mobile Park.

Jarred Kelenic, Tom Murphy and Dylan Moore struck out, in order, in a rally-building seventh inning after Luis Torrens led off with a triple and Abraham Toro walked. It was a stunning turn of events given the momentum that had been mounting, and that Kelenic -- one game after he had a dramatic go-ahead double that led to a sweep-clinching win vs. Oakland -- had accounted for the Mariners’ lone run via an RBI double in the second.

With the loss, the Mariners (89-71) fell one game back of the second American League Wild Card spot after Boston (90-70) won earlier on Friday. The Blue Jays (89-71) were also victorious, pushing them into a tie with the Mariners as the teams on the outside looking in with just two games to play. The Yankees (91-69) hold the top Wild Card spot by a game over the Red Sox after losing to the Rays.

“Awesome setting -- T-Mobile was rocking,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “Unfortunately, we just didn't get enough going offensively for it to turn our way tonight.”

The seventh loomed largest, but the Mariners also had a chance after Kyle Seager led off the ninth with a double. He was stranded after Torrens grounded out softly to closer Raisel Iglesias, Toro popped out to shortstop and Kelenic flied out to right, bringing the Mariners’ line with runners in scoring position to 0-for-7.

The Mariners mustered just five total hits, their fewest since Sept. 18 in Kansas City, which was one of just two losses on their recent 8-2 road trip -- and they left six runners stranded. Seattle’s Nos. 1-5 hitters -- among them J.P. Crawford, Ty France and Mitch Haniger, all of whom have been on a hot streak -- went a combined 3-for-19. That included Torrens’ triple and Seager’s double.

It wasn’t just a surprising turn -- or lack -- of events, it was an uncharacteristic one.

The Mariners have thrived in tight contests that are decided late, leading the Majors with 33 wins in one-run contests. Friday marked just their 19th loss in such a game. Each of their four victories coming into this one were of the come-from-behind variety, too. It’s a team that feeds off its resiliency.

“We've come too far at this point to change who we are,” Friday’s starting pitcher, Marco Gonzales, said. “And the character that we have in this clubhouse, these are my brothers, my family in here, and I know that we're going to come out with some fire tomorrow for sure.”

Gonzales, admittedly without his best stuff, led a pitching staff that gave up just four hits to the Halos, one of which proved to be the difference -- a two-run double by Brandon Marsh that narrowly escaped the glove on Moore’s extended reach in the third inning. Moore covered 91 feet in five seconds on a solid route for a ball that had just a 5% catch probability, per Statcast, and he missed it by mere inches.

“It's hard to win games 1-0, you know what I mean?” Servais said of the play’s impact. “We were only able to get one one run across tonight, so we needed to do more offensively.”

Servais was also quick to credit Halos left-hander José Suarez, a 23-year-old flamethrower who holds 96 mph in his back pocket, but basically pitched backwards with a bevy of offspeed pitches early in counts. It was José Quijada, though, who escaped the seventh-inning jam.

Asked if there were jitters in play for the Mariners, given the stakes of this essentially being their biggest game in Seattle in recent memory, Servais said: “We maybe got a little anxious. [Kelenic] chased one up out of the zone there, but you have to give [Quijada] credit. I don't think our guys are trying too hard or anything like that. Like I said, we've played this game so many times this year and we've always been able to put something together. Tonight, we just didn't didn't execute like we normally do.”

The Mariners will return Saturday with elimination on the line: If they lose and Boston defeats Washington, their playoff dream is over. But they’ve also shown an uncanny ability to wash away defeats all season long -- and it’s unlikely that will change with the stakes in front of them.