TORONTO _ In what was nearly scripted as one of the Orioles' grittiest wins of the season at the time when they needed one the most, the team's playoff hopes took another big hit in Toronto on Tuesday night.
After taking a one-run lead into the bottom of the ninth at the Rogers Centre, the Orioles lost in walk-off fashion with closer Zach Britton, making his first save attempt since Aug. 30, allowing two runs.
The Orioles walked off the field with their sixth straight loss, 3-2, after Britton allowed a one-out game-winning RBI single by shortstop Richard Urena that scored Darwin Barney _ who slid home ahead of Caleb Joseph's tag _ from second base.
Britton was attempting to convert a four-out save, and he got the Orioles out of a two-on, two-out jam in the eighth inning, but after walking Kevin Pillar to lead off the ninth, he quickly found himself in trouble.
Teoscar Hernandez singled to put runners at the corners, and two batters later, No. 9 hitter Luke Maile tied the game with an RBI single before Urena's single won it.
The Orioles had taken a 2-1 lead in the eighth inning when Tim Beckham homered off Blue Jays starting pitcher Joe Biagini.
With the loss, the Orioles (71-74) fell to three games below .500 for the first time since Aug. 23, and they weren't able to take advantage of grittiest starting pitching performances of the season from right-hander Dylan Bundy, who despite holding the Blue Jays to one run over six innings, recorded his final out of the night down 1-0.
Trailing the second AL wild-card spot by 3 { games with 18 games remaining entering the night _ and with four teams between them and that final playoff position _ the Orioles could no longer afford to lose one-run games.
The Orioles had just three singles against Biagini _ who despite entering the night with a 5.27 ERA had his best start of the season two outings ago against the Orioles at Camden Yards with seven shutout innings and 10 strikeouts _ through six innings, but the Orioles broke through in the sixth inning.
Trey Mancini hit a one-out double to left, and two batters later, slumping slugger Mark Trumbo came through with a two-out single to tie the game.
Beckham _ who entered the night hitting just .171 in 10 September games after batting a team-high .391 in August after arriving in Baltimore in a deadline deal with Tampa Bay _ jumped on a 94-mph fastball from Biagini on a 1-1 count, sending it over the left-field fence for his 21st homer of the season and his ninth in 40 games with the Orioles.
Bundy, who was coming off a four-inning outing that was tied for his shortest start of the season, didn't have his usual command, but still held the Blue Jays to one run over six innings. Bundy allowed five hits and struck out eight while walking just one.
That pitching line didn't indicate how much Bundy had to battle. He allowed the leadoff batter to reach base in four of his six innings, and twice had to work out of potentially big innings.
His slider was his best friend, as he got seven of his eight strikeouts on the pitch. He allowed a leadoff double to Kendrys Morales in the second inning, but then stranded him at third after striking out Hernandez and Ryan Goins _ both on sliders _ to end the inning.
Bundy allowed the only run against him in the third inning _ and avoided worse damage given the hard contact he was allowing. After allowing a leadoff single to Maile, Bundy induced two flyouts to the warning track before Justin Smoak doubled in Toronto's only run.
During one span through the third and fourth innings, four balls off Bundy were hit with an exit velocity of 98.6 mph or higher, including one by Morales to center field that Adam Jones brought in with a running catch off the wall.
Bundy found himself in trouble again in the sixth, putting the first two batters on by allowing a bloop single to Josh Donaldson and walking Smoak, but he struck out Jose Bautista and Morales _ again both on sliders _ then induced a weak pop-up from Kevin Pillar to escape that inning.
After reliever Mychal Givens retired the side in the seventh, right-hander Brad Brach received some help from Mancini, who erased Urena from the bases by throwing him out attempting to extend a leadoff single into a double.
Brach allowed the next two batters reach base _ walking Donaldson and allowing a single by Smoak _ but then induced a pop-up from Bautista.
Britton then entered for his first save opportunity since Aug. 30, striking out Morales to end the eighth before running into trouble in the ninth.
