SEATTLE -- By the time the sharp grounder scooted past J.P. Crawford and into center field, the Orioles had scratched back enough bandwidth to allow them to dream. Punchless for much of this road trip and much of Friday night’s 10-9 loss to the Mariners, the Orioles had strung together three hits off Seattle starter Mike Leake in the sixth, slicing their seven-run deficit by more than half.

That’s when Rio Ruiz sent a several-hopper up the middle -- hard, but a potential double-play ball had Crawford fielded it cleanly. Seattle’s shortstop didn’t, instead allotting the Orioles an extra out and another run. During a furious five-run sixth-inning rally, the Orioles seemed primed to end their season-long losing streak.

• Box score

“It could have been a feeling of, ‘Here we go again,’ but they didn’t have that at all.” manager Brandon Hyde said. “They fought all the way back into that game. We had a chance.”

All of which made what came next such a bitter pill to swallow. After reliever Cory Gearrin stranded the tying run in the sixth, the Orioles inched closer in the seventh, only to go quietly in the final two frames, and fall just short.

Despite bringing the go-ahead run to the plate multiple times in a game they once trailed 10-3, the Orioles are still reeling like they haven’t in nearly a decade.

Their 10-game losing streak ties the longest in the Majors this season, and the longest for the franchise since May 26-June 5, 2010.

“It’s been a tough couple of weeks,” Hyde said. “This trip has been tough, but we did compete tonight and I thought we showed a lot of character in how we played.”

As they have so often, their struggles Friday began and ended on the mound. Tasking their volatile bullpen to plug injured John Means’ rotation spot, the Orioles found themselves down seven runs by the fifth after Sean Gilmartin, Branden Kline and Tanner Scott were tagged for 10 runs.

Starting in the Majors for the first time since 2016, Gilmartin allowed five runs over 2 1/3 innings in his season debut. Kline and Scott combined to cough up five more, each back from the Minors after traveling cross-country Thursday night into Friday morning to join the club. Looking at the box score later, Hyde pointed to a sizable difference between the teams in one category: bases on balls. Five Orioles pitchers combined to walk eight. Four Mariners didn’t issue any.

“Obviously not the way I wanted it to go,” said Gilmartin, who was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk after the game. “The middle innings, things kind of looked a little bleak, but we put together some pretty good at-bats, scored some runs and stayed in the game.”

Playing again without injured star Trey Mancini (elbow), the Orioles broke out of their month-long offensive funk with a collective effort. Pedro Severino (three RBIs) and Dwight Smith Jr. collected three hits apiece, Chris Davis enjoyed his first multi-hit night in more than a month, and Chance Sisco and Hanser Alberto drove in runs to help Baltimore toward its largest offensive output in nearly three weeks.

They just came one big hit short.

“It was a crazy game,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “You have to give Baltimore a lot of credit. They’ve been struggling a little bit, but they certainly did not quit tonight.”