A batted ball that traveled only 2 feet changed the direction of Tuesday night’s game.

The Orioles led by one run in the fourth inning, and Cole Irvin induced a weak ground ball by Gabriel Arias. The Cleveland Guardians first baseman softly tapped Irvin’s changeup straight into the ground, only 24 inches past home plate.

James McCann then made a decision that potentially allowed the calamitous five-run frame to unravel, resulting in the Orioles’ 10-8 loss to the MLB-best Guardians. Despite tallying 16 hits and smacking four homers, Baltimore’s bats couldn’t complete the comeback.

“Had 16 hits, scored eight runs on these guys, we should win the game,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “We just didn’t pitch well enough to win.”

The Orioles have dropped five straight games for the club’s longest skid since May 2022, before the club promoted catcher Adley Rutschman that month. Baltimore’s last win was its cathartic crushing of the New York Yankees, 17-5, on Thursday. Since, the Orioles have been swept by the Houston Astros — only their second since the club’s previous losing streak of five-plus games — and are one defeat away from another.

McCann chose to throw Arias’ dribbler to second base, attempting to nab lead runner Bo Naylor for the inning’s second out rather than taking the easy out at first. It’s far from an uncommon attempt, but the veteran catcher’s throw veered slightly right. It reached second baseman Jorge Mateo’s glove at the same time Naylor slid, causing the ball to redirect into the outfield and advance the Guardians catcher to third. Mateo appeared to injure his hand on the play, but he remained in the game and Hyde said the speedster was “OK.”

Had McCann thrown to first (or fired a strike to second on the difficult throw), what followed likely would not have happened. Three of the next four batters recorded RBI hits, including superstar José Ramírez’s backbreaking three-run homer to stamp an exclamation point on Cleveland’s five-run fourth against Irvin.

“If I could do it all over again, I would give him a little bit better throw to handle,” McCann said. “In that moment, the ball’s right in front of home plate, and that’s something you train to do. Yeah, it’s easy, hindsight 20/20 to say, ‘Let’s take the out and have the guy at second,’ but in the moment, the play’s to second base. Again, it’s easy to play Monday morning quarterback, and if I take the out at first, maybe we get out of that inning without giving up any runs. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened.

“At the end of the day, make a better throw.”

The rally kicked off with No. 9 hitter Brayan Rocchio’s soft RBI single that squeaked past shortstop Gunnar Henderson because he was playing on the grass with Naylor on third, something the Orioles star wouldn’t have been doing without McCann’s throwing error. Four of the five runs in the inning were unearned against Irvin, who continued the Orioles rotation’s struggles by allowing eight runs (four earned) and 10 hits in four innings.

“No, that ball’s right in front of him,” Hyde said when asked about whether he agreed with McCann’s decision. “I think if it doesn’t go into the runner there a little bit, he’s probably out at second base. … I think it was the right move.”

McCann, however, had perhaps his best offensive game of the season, going 2-for-4 with an RBI single in the second, a solo shot in the fourth and an RBI groundout in the seventh. The 34-year-old backup catcher, starting for his second straight game with Rutschman getting rest as Baltimore’s designated hitter, is hitting .202 with a .552 OPS this season.

Henderson, batting fourth with Rutschman leading off against left-handed starter Logan Allen, blasted a two-run homer — his 25th of the season, second in MLB behind only Yankees slugger Aaron Judge (29) — to give the Orioles a 2-1 lead. He’s the fifth player in club history with multiple 25-plus homer seasons at 23 years old or younger, joining Cal Ripken Jr., Eddie Murray, Boog Powell and Manny Machado.

Jordan Westburg, who reached in all five of his trips to the plate with four hits and a walk, put Baltimore back on top with an RBI double in the third. That’s the last lead the Orioles would possess after the ugly fourth inning, as they went from being up 4-3 to trailing 8-4.

McCann and Colton Cowser hit back-to-back solo homers in the bottom half of the fourth to put the Orioles within striking distance, but their best scoring opportunity produced only one run. With bases loaded and no outs in the seventh against Cleveland’s bullpen, pinch-hitter Heston Kjerstad struck out looking, McCann grounded out for an RBI and Cowser ended the inning with a chopper to shortstop.

After the Guardians scored two runs off sinkerballer Yennier Cano in the eighth, Anthony Santander lined a solo homer to put the Orioles back within two runs. The veteran switch-hitter is now tied for fourth in baseball with 21 long balls, behind only Judge, Henderson and Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani (24). Santander, a free agent this offseason, has heated up as the weather has. His 12 home runs in June are tied for the fourth most by an Oriole in a single month, and Baltimore has five games remaining before the calendar flips to July.

With four big flies Tuesday, the Orioles boosted their season total to 129, most in MLB ahead of the Yankees (117). Cowser’s was his 10th of the season, making him the MLB-best sixth Baltimore batter to reach double digits, joining Henderson, Santander, Rutschman, Westburg and Ryan Mountcastle.

Like Friday’s loss, in which the Orioles made a valiant comeback after trailing by 11 runs to lose by three, they couldn’t make one last push in the ninth in front of the announced 18,574 fans at Camden Yards. Closer Emmanuel Clase slammed the door in the ninth by getting Rutschman, the potential tying run, to line out to left field.

The Orioles are 49-30 and two games back of the American League East-leading Yankees. The Guardians now have MLB’s best record at 51-26. Baltimore will look hope to get back into the win column Wednesday before hosting the Texas Rangers in an AL Division Series rematch this weekend.

“We had rough patches last year, and we still won 101 games,” McCann said. “The minute you start doubting yourself, the minute you start taking a stretch of five games and making it seem like it’s more than that is when it starts to snowball. … It’s frustrating, no one likes to lose, but at the same time, we can’t freak out about a little stretch during what’s really our toughest stretch of the year.

“Just stay strong mentally, stay together as a group and show up tomorrow ready to play.”

Baltimore Sun reporter Matt Weyrich contributed to this article.