DENVER -- The Orioles departed Colorado with storm clouds overhead following a walk-off 8-7 loss to the Rockies at Coors Field, yet another in what has become a long litany of gut-wrenching defeats as they take a flight back east.

This time, it was a bases-loaded walk to Ian Desmond and a sacrifice fly from Tony Wolters that had Mychal Givens and company walking off the field for their second sudden-death loss in three days.

• Box score

“We’re just having a hard time getting the last three outs,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “You can’t walk guys in the ninth inning, and you can’t allow baserunners. We’re putting ourselves in positions to win … We’re just not getting it done.”

Baltimore is 6-17 in May. But consider: if not for an inability to close out games and hit with runners in scoring position late in games, this club could be more like 13-10. That would make the O's 23-30 on the season, rather than 16-37.

Here are seven games in May the Orioles very well could have won:

1) Sunday at Rockies, 8-7
David Hess, coming off a start in which the Yankees pounded him for a career-high nine runs, limited the Rockies to one run on five hits over the first five innings Sunday.

He struck out Nolan Arenado twice, inducing feeble swings at his slider in each case, and Trevor Story three times. Hess also touched 96 mph with his fastball, the hardest four-seamer he’s thrown in the Majors, according to Statcast.

The sixth inning is when Arenado launched a two-run homer to begin Hess’ undoing. Overall, Hess gave up five runs (four earned) on nine hits, walking one and fanning six over 5 2/3 innings. There’s hope for the 25-year-old righty, who entered Sunday with a 6.75 ERA.

“That’s a confidence boost to me,” Hess said of his work against the two sluggers. “Those are two guys that are really good, quality hitters, so to go out there to get that result was really big in the situation it happened in as well.”

Even after a four-run Rockies sixth, the O's didn’t relent. They capped a comeback on Trey Mancini’s two-out, two-run, go-ahead triple in the eighth.

But after the scratching and clawing to get back into the game, Baltimore’s bullpen couldn’t close things out. Givens continued to struggle mightily with control, as he has for the past week.

2) Friday at Rockies, 8-6
Another late bullpen meltdown, as Richard Bleier, Shawn Armstrong and Givens surrendered a combined five runs over the final four frames to lose a game which Baltimore was leading at one point, 5-1.

“We have an eight-man ‘pen,” Hyde said after the loss. “We’re just throwing a lot of pitches and we’re having a tough time putting people away, having a tough time getting early-contact outs.”

3) Thursday vs. Yankees, 6-5
This time, it was another 5-1 game, except the Orioles were trailing the Yankees. In what has become customary for Baltimore’s lineup, it stormed back with a four-run eighth on Mancini’s RBI single and Renato Nunez’s three-run homer.

But in the top of the ninth, Givens did what he did Sunday in Denver, walking home a run with the bases loaded.

It’s been a nightmare week for Givens after he had turned in six scoreless outings to open the month, striking out 11 of the 31 batters he faced. Things went from bad against the Yanks (more to come on that) to worse against the Rockies.

“We need Mychal Givens,” Hyde said. “He’s a big part of our club, so we need to find a way to get him right.”

4) Wednesday vs. Yankees, 7-5
Down 7-2 in the fifth, the O's had CC Sabathia on the ropes following a pair of homers from Richie Martin and Renato Nunez, and a Pedro Severino double. But on a Joey Rickard single, Severino tried to score and was thrown out at home by center fielder Brett Gardner.

Baltimore brought the tying run to the plate in each of the subsequent four innings, but failed to score.

5) Monday vs. Yankees, 10-7
The Orioles had a 6-1 lead in the sixth, but Givens surrendered five runs over 1 1/3 innings in what would be the first of three consecutive poor outings.

6) May 8 vs. Red Sox, 2-1
Facing Chris Sale, it was no surprise that O's hitters could only muster one run over eight innings against the left-hander. But Andrew Cashner turned in a strong outing of his own, allowing one run over six innings. The game went into the 12th, and after a strong showing from Baltimore’s bullpen, Yefry Ramirez surrendered an Andrew Benintendi go-ahead homer.

7) May 1 (Game 2) at White Sox, 7-6
Stevie Wilkerson’s three-run homer had the Orioles up, 4-2, in the fourth inning. But Cashner was unable to hold the lead, and Chicago pulled ahead with a three-run fourth. Baltimore came back with a game-tying homer from Anthony Santander and the aid of a Tim Anderson error. Miguel Castro gave up a walk-off two-run single to Yonder Alonso in the bottom of the ninth.

The bullpen woes are evident, but O's hitters came into the Rockies series hitting .189 with runners in scoring position and two outs. That changed in Colorado, for the most part, but the results didn’t: Baltimore’s lineup produced a .471 average in that situation, including Mancini’s big triple.

The Orioles are that close. Close to what? For a rebuilding, inexperienced club, nothing remotely near contention. But something much closer to respectability.

Even after another gut punch Sunday, they keep getting off the mat.

“I think for a normal team, it’s really difficult [to bounce back],” Hyde said. “But for our team, we continue to play well the next day.

“Our guys are obviously playing for something. … You can’t just walk through us. We’re going to compete for nine innings.”