SEATTLE -- A bullpen that¡¯s emerged as arguably the Majors¡¯ most surprising has carried the Mariners through the first month and change this season. And though Seattle¡¯s relievers didn¡¯t quite pull off what would¡¯ve represented their most accomplished feat yet, their showing in Monday¡¯s 5-3 loss to the Orioles was still one to hang their hats on.

A six-pitcher shutout of Baltimore was brewing into the eighth inning at T-Mobile Park. But with just three hits and as many runs of support from their bats on the night, the margin for the Mariners¡¯ relievers was thin.

? Box score

Having held opponents scoreless all season to that point, Anthony Misiewicz gave up a leadoff walk then surrendered a two-run homer to Cedric Mullins that just barely cleared the right-center-field wall and actually caromed off right fielder Mitch Haniger¡¯s glove on its way out.

Had Haniger hauled that one in, it would¡¯ve been on Mariners highlight reels for years to come. It also would¡¯ve changed the trajectory of a game that was shaping up to be arguably the most impressive performance of the season from the pitching staff, including starters.

¡°It was a good pitch, just a bad outcome,¡± Misiewicz said. ¡°I really didn't want to put it in that spot. I wanted to put them off the plate. If you could have one pitch back, I guess that would definitely be the pitch throughout the whole month.¡±

Charged with the tall task of collectively filling in for No. 1 starter Marco Gonzales, who is expected to miss multiple starts due to a left forearm strain, five Mariners relievers carried the club into the eighth before Baltimore put up a five-spot against Misiewicz and Wyatt Mills, who was making just his second big league appearance.

That snapped a 21-inning scoreless streak by Seattle¡¯s pitching staff that dated back to the fifth inning of Saturday¡¯s loss to the Angels. The five runs raised the Mariners¡¯ bullpen ERA to 2.56, which is still third-best in MLB.

¡°He was not quite as sharp as he normally is,¡± Mariners manager Scott Servais said. ¡°We've been using him a lot lately. When you go into a game like this, you try to map it out, and we were in a pretty good spot, but unfortunately we didn't have much cushion to play with.¡±

The Mullins homer didn¡¯t represent a poor pitch, but rather an impressive piece of hitting. The left-handed-hitting outfielder pulled a cutter on the outer black all the way to the deepest point of the ballpark, and it barely cleared. In fact, according to Statcast, that ball would¡¯ve been a homer in only nine other parks.

¡°Like I told him as he was walking out of the game, I have no reservations about that pitch at all,¡± catcher Tom Murphy said. ¡°I do have issues with walks, right? Like, that's way more of an issue than that pitch [for the Mullins homer]. And I think [Misiewicz] would agree on that as well. And he's extremely hard on himself and works really hard. And I hope he sees that as well, because nine times out of 10, that cutter is going to get an out with a lefty. But he knows he doesn't want to walk guys.¡±

Instead of one on (via a leadoff walk), one out and a 1-0 lead, Misiewicz had to regain himself with a 2-1 deficit and no outs. But his next batter, Austin Hays, found daylight on a grounder that barely passed Kyle Seager along the third-base line that led to a double, representing a tough-luck, would-be second out, possibly even an inning-ending double play.

Mills, who was called up and made his big league debut on Saturday, then came on, allowed one inherited runner to score and gave up a two-run homer to Freddy Galvis that essentially put the game out of reach, even with the help of Haniger¡¯s two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth.

Murphy also went yard with an opposite-field solo shot in the fifth. But those deep flies and a first-inning single by Kyle Lewis represented the lone hits for Seattle¡¯s scuffling offense. Through 30 games, the Mariners are hitting .207/.287/.366 for a 92 wRC+ (league average is 100) and a 26.8 percent strikeout rate, seventh-highest in MLB.

¡°Not much to talk about offensively,¡± Servais said. ¡°We had a couple homers. Murph smoked the ball, and Hani got a breaking ball there late in the game. But offensively, we need to be more consistent, and you know, just didn't get much going tonight.¡±