The Orioles beat themselves too many times. These were the most maddening examples.

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This list could go on and on in a painful retelling of a lost season. How many times did the Orioles blow games? Far too many.

Be it errors, strikeouts or a complete capitulation during a series sweep, Baltimore had many what-if moments. And, given how wide open the American League is, these losses are especially maddening. The lackluster league left the door open for the Orioles — for any team, really — to make a run into October.

The Orioles are heading for an early offseason instead because of the underlying issues that were too frequently felt.

“For a little bit, we would just find ways to kind of lose games,” infielder Jackson Holliday said, “whether it was a stupid error or dropped pop-up, dumb things that can’t happen when you’re trying to win games.”

This is in no way an exhaustive list. That’s a sad sentence to write, but in truth, this is just scratching the surface.

Here, however, are 10 games that stood out in the minds of two Banner Orioles writers. If the Orioles didn’t beat themselves here, perhaps they’d be in the postseason. Perhaps the atmosphere around Camden Yards would be a lot more positive.

April 4, 3-2 loss to the Pirates

After an offseason and spring training spent discussing the importance of defensive precision, there were plenty of early miscues. During the first road trip of the season, a misplay from right-hander Anthony Nunez created the first maddening loss on this list.

With a runner on third in the eighth inning, Nunez whiffed on a dribbler to the left of the mound. His error allowed the game-tying run to cross, and Ryan Helsley gave up a walk-off hit in the ninth.

– Andy Kostka

April 25, 17-1 loss to the Red Sox

Let’s give the biggest loss of the season some attention here. Trevor Rogers didn’t make it out of the second inning, the Orioles made a pair of errors that led to four unearned runs off Albert Suárez to put the game out of reach, and then Boston sent 14 batters to the plate in a 10-run ninth against Keegan Akin and infielder Weston Wilson to make it a 16-run loss in front of one of the biggest home crowds of the season.

– Jon Meoli

May 4, 12-1 loss to the Yankees

It felt in the moment like the noncompetitive sweep in New York to begin May would solidify the perception of this team as simply not good enough, and that’s basically what happened. The series-ending loss, a 12-1 thumping, looked worse than it had to because Lou Trivino gave up six runs in the eighth — an inning finished by Wilson — but it wasn’t great before that.

It was a heavy defeat because of stakes. The Orioles were swimming upstream after that sweep and never really recovered.

– Meoli

May 7, 4-3 loss to the Marlins

The Orioles were one out away from forcing extra innings. Right-hander Andrew Kittredge induced the required ground ball. And third baseman Coby Mayo threw the ball away, allowing the Marlins to walk off as winners. As the year has gone on Mayo has solidified himself as a capable hitter and has made defensive strides, but this loss, as manager Craig Albernaz put it, was “a gut punch.”

– Kostka

June 7, 6-4 loss to the Blue Jays

Does anyone really know what the baseline is? In seriousness, yes. But, at the time, an error followed by one of the most frustrating moments of the season compounded into a loss. Shortstop Gunnar Henderson booted a ball, then Ernie Clement appeared to leave the baseline to elude Henderson’s tag attempt.

The umpiring crew deemed Clement didn’t leave the baseline, however, and the Orioles unraveled from there. This sequence also led to this line from crew chief Hunter Wendelstedt: “It actually is a very gentlemanly thing to do. He was getting out of the way to allow the fielder to make the play towards first base.”

– Kostka

June 19, 6-5 loss to the Dodgers

When you lose in stupefying fashion often enough, sometimes the run-of-the-mill loss can get swept aside. Every once in a while your closer doesn’t have it, and Ryan Helsley didn’t have it in this one.

Trey Gibson kept the Dodgers at bay, and the Orioles’ offense, while scoring only three runs, stranded two men on base. But, after giving up a game-tying home run to Mookie Betts with one out in the ninth, Helsley lost the strike zone with a pair of walks. The first came around to score on a single to right fielder Tyler O’Neill, whose throw home to Samuel Basallo was up the line — and Basallo didn’t smother it — for a game-ending error.

– Meoli

June 24, 7-6 loss to Angels

Days later, the Orioles one-upped themselves. Nolan Schanuel hit a ground ball that looked as though it would end the game. Second baseman Jeremiah Jackson fielded the ball cleanly, but first baseman Pete Alonso was too far from the bag. Akin, racing to cover the base, couldn’t catch the toss. The ball deflected down the line, and Schanuel ran to third. Shortly after, Baltimore lost because of a dribbler down the third-base line.

It was almost impressive how much went wrong in such a short time.

– Kostka

July 20, 6-5 loss to the Red Sox

The Orioles managed four errors in this walk-off loss to the Red Sox, and yet, as Jackson said, “That’s a game we could have won, and probably should have.” The Orioles and Red Sox traded runs, but only three of Boston’s six runs were earned. That is no way to win a game, as the Orioles discovered too often.

– Kostka

Sept. 1, 4-2 loss to the Rockies

A night earlier, Colton Cowser’s incredible game-saving catch put the Orioles at .500 (69-69) for the first time since April 24. They were just outside the playoff race but in as good a spot as they’d been in months.

Holliday tied this game in the top of the seventh, then dropped a pop-up in the bottom half of the inning with rookie Luis De León on the mound for his major league debut. Two batters later, TJ Rumfield took De León deep on a hanging slider and the Orioles’ momentum was halted. Instead of extending their winning streak to five, they began a six-game losing streak. They never recovered.

– Meoli

Sept. 6, 3-1 loss to the Red Sox

Some losses are less about the score and more about the circumstances. Looking to avoid a sweep against the Red Sox and keep themselves in touch with the wild-card race, the Orioles took a first-inning lead on a Christian Encarnacion-Strand double then proceeded to give the lead back when a two-out Henderson error in the second led to a three-run home run by the next batter, Eli White.

Kyle Bradish and the bullpen shut the door otherwise, but the Orioles managed just three more baserunners the rest of the way as they struck out a season-high 17 times.

– Meoli