It was the same old story with the Timbers, in red, playing at CenturyLink Field: Close game. Clint Dempsey goal. Seattle victory.

It was a familiar punch in the stomach Sunday night, and it especially smarted because Portland played well. They were compact, they played with composure and confidence, and they got the chance or two they knew they would have to take to win on the carpet in the Emerald City. In the end, they didn't take those chances, and they slink back home, beaten again.

That's four straight victories for Seattle in this series, and five straight games without a loss. Take away the magical fall of 2013, and Caleb Porter—whose first major public declaration after being named Timbers manager was tell Alexi Lalas that "The Timbers will no longer be inferior to the Seattle Sounders"—has five losses and a draw against the arch enemy.

This is an incredibly frustrating loss. The Timbers played the Sounders toe to toe and lost. It's one thing to be outplayed, it's another to be pipped. It feels like Portland is smashing their head into a brick wall with Seattle. Right now, the Sounders are, for whatever reason, a team that the Timbers can't beat.

There is no reason for the Timbers to hang their heads. They didn't do enough to win, but they certainly did enough not to lose. Seattle's goal was strange all around. It came from a flick-on header off of a long throw which fell to Andy Rose, who hit a tame shot at Timbers goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey. The Ghanian saved it, but couldn't hold on, and the ball was bundled over the line by Dempsey.

Yeah, him again.

It was slightly unlucky for Kwarasey, who did well to save the initial shot, but in reality, he hardly covered himself in glory by making a mess out of the rebound. It was a disastrous moment in an extremely competently played match. But that's often what swings close games, and since the Timbers—who have now been shut out in half of their games this year—aren't scoring, they're playing with zero margin for error.

Diego Valeri made the bench for this game, but was never actually available to play. If he was, the Timbers would have used him late down a goal. Instead, we got 90 minutes of Ishmael Yartey, who dribbles. Beyond that, he isn't giving any of his teammates much to work with.

Maxi Urruti bafflingly got the start over Fanendo Adi, and while Urruti didn't have a bad game, the move was still a blunder. Within seconds of his second-half introduction, Adi steered a golden chance just wide and hit the post with header.

Simply put, Adi gives a Portland attack sorely lacking for versatility and instant-offense options. Urruti doesn't, in part, because every time Portland gets into a good position, he pins his ears back, blindly runs towards goal, and is caught 10 yards offside.

Darlington Nagbe was mostly bottled up by Cards Against Humanity embodiment Osvaldo Alonso, and as brilliant as Nagbe is, he can't do it alone. It was no shock that Portland's best two chances were on crosses hoisted towards Adi after he entered the match—the Timbers had just about nothing from the run of play.

This is a team that continues to hang its hat on defense. Jack Jewsbury and Diego Chara both had very good games. Alvas Powell was as good as he's ever been in a Timbers shirt, and he should have had the game-winning assist on Adi's first touch. Jorge Villafaña erased Lamar Neagle, while Nat Borchers continued to be the team's most important player.

Obafemi Martins and Dempsey didn't have any room all night. It was a far cry from last year's goal bonanzas for the Sounders against the Timbers, but Portland comes away with nothing to show from their improvement.

It must be said that Caleb Porter came to Seattle with a 0-0 draw in mind. Still severely short-handed, Porter wanted to sit in his full-backs—something he observed Jose Mourinho do at Chelsea when Porter visited the club in the offseason—and absorb pressure. That Portland was able to so effectively maintain possession and relieve pressure by keeping the ball was a bonus, and a credit to the likes of Jewsbury, Chara, and Nagbe.

Portland will improve, as soon as next weekend when Valeri will return. So will Seattle. The intensity in this game and notable lack of animosity from either team was slightly disappointing. The game didn't really spark until late on. It's one of the foreseeable drawbacks of pairing these two teams so early in the season.

The good news for the Timbers is, the next two games are going to be the memorable ones. June 28th in Portland and August 30th in Seattle are when the tifos will come out. The Timbers have chances to avenge this defeat. Seattle isn't the miles ahead of Portland that they were last year. That's encouraging. But it almost makes losing these games more painful.

There's a big game to look forward to next weekend at home against Vancouver, and this was a solid performance. Portland has just about weathered the injury storm. A result here would have been some well-earned icing, but Caleb Porter is by no means in trouble.

This team believes that the results are coming. This performance would back that up. Problem is, it was this result that really mattered. And this one, like so many before it, got away. The Timbers will have to chew on that for 63 days, and then see if they can do anything about it. This rivalry, the best in American soccer, is becoming lopsided again.