CLEVELAND -- The Blast just run into the wrong teams at the wrong time.

After Philadelphia extended its winning streak to five with an overtime victory Friday against Baltimore, the Blast came up short again in a 24-19 loss to the Cleveland Crunch.

Cleveland's ninth win in a row came behind three goals from Hector Marinaro and six assists from Zoran Karic. Franklin McIntosh led Baltimore with four goals and two assists.

The Blast (17-18) had won four in a row before facing the division leaders on back-to-back nights on the road.

Down 12 early in the second half, Baltimore cut the deficit to 19-17 with a 12-point outburst in the third quarter that included four goals in a four-minute stretch.

"We did what we wanted to do in the third quarter," said Blast coach Kevin Healey. "But, they [Cleveland] have talent and made some shots in the fourth."

Harrisburg (18-18) moved into second place and the Blast dropped to third and now contends for the fifth playoff spot with Montreal (16-19).

"We're in a dogfight," said Healey. "We have five games left I believe we will get a playoff spot but that won't do it. We have to go out and win on the field."

Cleveland, the first American Conference to clinch a playoff spot, outscored Baltimore 7-3 the rest of the first half with the only Blast points coming on a three-pointer from Shane Dougherty to keep his team in the hunt.

"In the first half, they [Cleveland] had some good shots and we got in a transition game, which is not what we wanted to do," said Healey. "We wanted to control the ball and break them down defensively and that's what we did in the third."

Baltimore, which needs to hold off either Harrisburg or Montreal for the final American Conference playoff spot, plays at Milwaukee on Thursday.