THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: How the M's have gone from red hot to struggling

The Mariners woke up Tuesday morning in a bad place.

An emotional place?

That, too.

But even more unpleasant were some cold, hard numbers — as in, the American League standings.

For the first time in quite a while, Seattle was NOT in a playoff position.

If the season had ended at the conclusion of their loss to the Angels on Monday night, they would be out.

See ya next year.

How did this happen?

This is a team that went 21-5 in August, a group that seemed to have a legitimate shot to displace the Astros as AL West champions.

So, why?

First, we have to look at some numbers — and after that, examine what’s gone on with players and individual games to create those figures.

The ugly stat: After failing to score with the bases loaded and nobody out in the ninth inning Monday, the Mariners gave up a total of five runs in the 10th and 11th innings, and lost 8-5 to the Angels.

It was their 13th defeat in 19 extra-inning games this season, a baffling record when you consider that Seattle has had a brilliant bullpen most of the year.

PART OF the problem, as it has been all season, is lack of the key hit.

Only three or four Mariners are really dangerous in spots to drive in runs during crunch late-inning rallies.

If those guys don’t pop up at the right time in the batting order, extra-inning threats tend to die.

Today, though, I think we need to address the bullpen — and a trade that was considered a win for both teams.

Setting the scene: Mariners boss Jerry Dipoto had some serious issues ahead of the trade deadline.

He had to find a second baseman to replace the failure of off-season acquisition Kolten Wong, and he needed an outfielder (preferably left-handed) with Jarred Kelenic on the IL after fracturing his foot when kicking a water cooler.

Dipoto found a partner in Arizona, where the Diamondbacks were scrambling for the playoffs but needed a veteran reliever for high-leverage situations.

To be clear, the Mariners did not WANT to move Paul Sewald, their closer and most reliable bullpen arm.

Sewald had become a ninth-inning fixture, having pitched in 45 games with three wins (3-1) and 21 saves, compiling 60 strikeouts against 14 walks over 43 innings.

But Sewald is 33 and likely was at the peak of his desirability as a trade piece.

Part of calculus here was that the Mariners didn’t have much else to trade — most players of value just couldn’t be moved without serious damage to the club’s hopes for a stretch run.

And remember, the M’s were not considered locked-in contenders at that point.

The hot streak came later.

In any event, Seattle pulled the trigger — sending Sewald to Arizona for second baseman Josh Rojas, promising young outfielder Dominic Canzone and high-level prospect Ryan Bliss, an all-purpose infielder who adds athleticism to the organization (16 steals in 35 games at Tacoma).

THE DEAL has worked for the Mariners, at least on the surface.

Rojas has been an excellent plug-and-play addition at second base and Canzone, for someone with so little big league experience (47 games), has displayed bat control, latent power and decent instincts in the field.

This is fodder for another day, but I believe Canzone is a better long-term bet in the Mariners outfield than Kelenic.

Our focus now, however, is on the bullpen — and why Seattle is squandering leads, losing close games and going 6-13 in extra innings.

To make it simple, they are desperately missing Sewald.

Besides having one more reliable arm, he handled the toughest function of all, closing games.

With Sewald gone, everyone else’s roles have changed.

Andres Munoz has become the closer, although Matt Brash is the most reliable at getting outs.

I suspect Scott Servais has resisted giving Brash the ninth inning because he has a different and critical role — getting out of game-changing jams, whatever the inning.

Brash is almost unhittable, so it makes sense in a way.

Meantime, though, Justin Topa is pitching different innings than before the trade, and maybe facing tougher parts of opposing lineups.

Gabe Speier, Isaiah Campbell, Tayler Saucedo and Trent Thornton have all been juggled, as needed.

It’s been survival mode.

Besides the loss of Sewald, of course, the other big item is fatigue — a killer that’s occurred because injuries to the rotation (Robbie Ray, Marco Gonzales, Emerson Hancock) have pushed rookies Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo into more innings than they can reasonably be expected to handle.

Those innings have to be covered somehow.

Still, successful bullpens are almost works of art — put together delicately and with logic, as well as great care.

Take out one critical piece, and everything can suddenly get chaotic.

Yep, it’s a bitch.

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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”