Both hands on his head, disbelief washed over Rio Ruiz as he rounded first base and broke down into a jog. The Orioles third baseman just watched his potential game-breaking drive snatched out of the air by Michael Conforto, who leaped -- Willie Mays-style -- to save two, maybe three runs and squash Baltimore’s bases-loaded sixth-inning threat Wednesday night at Citi Field.

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Combined with Jeff McNeil’s sliding catch on José Iglesias' liner to left earlier in the frame, those plays then loomed large as the Orioles watched a 7-6 loss to the Mets slip through their fingers, snapping their four-game winning streak. The defeat sank the O’s back to two games below .500 and 1 1/2 games behind the Yankees for the final American League Wild Card spot, after New York beat Toronto.

“That play Conforto made has to be one of the best plays of the year, especially in that spot and that part of the game,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “That was an outstanding defensive effort that stopped a lot of rallies and saved a bunch of runs.”

The result was a stunner, a heart-breaker, on a night the Orioles built another sizable lead against Mets pitching just to watch it dissolve. Up four runs after three, the Orioles swung early and often to tag Rick Porcello for five runs before DJ Stewart’s solo homer off Chasen Shreve gave them a 6-3 lead in the fifth.

But Conforto's solo shot and Robinson Canó’s RBI single inched New York closer in the bottom of the frame. And minutes after Conforto robbed Ruiz, Paul Fry coughed up a game-tying solo homer to rookie Andrés Giménez.

Pete Alonso then deposited Hunter Harvey’s first pitch of the eighth over the right-center-field wall for the final margin. Luis Guillorme helped Mets closer Edwin Díaz make sure it stuck by diving into the shift to rob Chance Sisco in the ninth, the last in a trio of defensive highlights the Mets made. They had so many chances with the number of balls put in play, as the Orioles compiled 14 hits for the second straight night.

“I think the key for them was they played well on both ends of the ball, defensively and offensively,” said Orioles starter Jorge López, who was charged with five runs in 4 2/3 innings. “They have a really good team and a really good lineup from top to bottom. They just got the best of us, but I think we may have a better team.”

All told, it was the kind of meltdown the Orioles had been immune to in recent weeks, as they surged back into the playoff hunt in part because of a staff that ranked as the AL’s second-best by ERA in September. And it came behind another standout effort from several of their young hitters, notably Ruiz, Stewart and Ryan Mountcastle.

Ruiz extended his hit streak to 10 games with a two-run double off Porcello in the third, and Mountcastle (4-for-4) became the youngest Oriole to record a four-hit game since Manny Machado in 2015. Stewart reached base in all five plate appearances; his upper-deck homer was his fifth in four games. He hit four in 44 games in 2019.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody as hot as he is right now,” said Mountcastle, who is hitting .383 himself. “It’s kind of insane.”

How much longer can it continue? The question applies to these hot streaks and the Orioles’ playoff chances as a whole. They’ll have a shot if their offense keeps averaging six runs per game (as it has in September), now 20-22 with 18 games to play. Fifteen of those come against AL East rivals, and 12 against teams they’re currently trailing in the standings.

“I’d be disappointed if we didn’t play well the rest of the year. And I think whatever happens, happens,” Hyde said Wednesday afternoon. “We’d love for our team to continue to experience these games that matter the last few weeks. We don’t have many guys who have been in a pennant race, so I think continuing to play games that matter is really beneficial. But there is still a lot of baseball to be played and a lot of teams that are right there, also.”