BALTIMORE -- Maybe it was the chilly weather mixed with rain that represents spring in this part of the country but feels more like fall in Arizona.

Or it could have been the energy of the crowd at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the fact that both teams played with a certain intensity and focus.

Regardless, Friday night’s game between the D-backs and Orioles had the feel of a postseason game, one that saw Arizona fall, 4-2.

The loss snapped the D-backs’ season-high, four-game winning streak.

“This was a grinding baseball game,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “It was a gritty baseball game with two gritty teams fighting for everything they could and [the Orioles] just got some big hits at the right time.”

While the loss was certainly unwelcome, it wasn’t like the defeats the D-backs had earlier in the year, when sloppy play and miscues did them in. That makes this one easier to swallow.

“We didn't play a bad ballgame,” Lovullo said. “We just couldn't get a big hit at the right time. It reminded me of a postseason game with the energy of the crowd, the focus of both ball clubs. I was very pleased with what we did. We didn't win the game, but this is one of the things where I feel like we're just continuing to push in the right direction even though we didn't come out on the right side of the score today.”

Lovullo liked what he saw out of starter Brandon Pfaadt, who battled a tough Orioles lineup for six innings, holding them to five hits, four of which were singles.

Baltimore got to Pfaadt in the second with back-to-back singles to open the inning and one out later, Jordan Westburg doubled to the gap in left-center to score a run. Another run would come home later on a ground out.

That, and a Ryan O’Hearn RBI single in the fifth was the only damage Pfaadt allowed.

Pfaadt was pleased with his performance, but if he had to do it over again, he would have worked more up and down in the zone than side to side.

“I think that kind of kept them on each pitch more often, like they were on the fastball and they were able to get to the changeup a little more that way,” Pfaadt said. “But overall, I felt good. I think we had a good game plan going into the game and we kind of stuck to that and it just turned out how it turned out.”

Pfaadt walked two and did not strike out a batter for the first time in 25 career big league starts. While that can sometimes be attributed to not having good stuff, neither Pfaadt nor Lovullo thought that was the case this time.

For Lovullo, it came down to giving the Orioles’ hitters credit.

“They've got a very defined two-strike approach,” Lovullo said. “They are a tough out, especially with two strikes. So credit to them.”

One pitcher who did get strikeouts was Arizona reliever Justin Martinez, who struck out five in 1 2/3 innings while walking two, one intentionally.

Martinez has a big arm with a 100-plus mph fastball, and the key for him has always been the ability to throw strikes. In his most recent big league stint, he has been better about that and Lovullo has begun to use him in higher-leverage situations.

“It's all a process,” Lovullo said. “It's just a series of graduations for each player that they're walking through and he's continuing to grow and learn. It was a very solid outing and he’ll continue to keep getting an opportunity.”