HOUSTON (Interstat) — Cal Raleigh hit his 57th home run to pass Ken Griffey Jr. for Seattle’s single-season record and the Mariners built a big lead and held on for a 6-4 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night to give them a two-game lead in the AL West.

George Kirby scattered five hits across six scoreless innings and struck out seven to help the Mariners to the victory that assures them a season series win over the Astros. Closer Andrés Muñoz plunked Jake Meyers to start Houston’s ninth before walking Jeremy Peña. But Victor Robles made a diving catch on a ball hit by Carlos Correa and Meyers was out on a double play to end it and give Muñoz his 37th save.

The Mariners methodically built a 6-0 lead before Houston’s offense finally broke through in the seventh inning against the Seattle bullpen. The win improved Seattle to 86-69, while the Astros fell to 84-71.

Seattle struck first in the opening inning against Houston starter Framber Valdez. After two quick outs, Julio Rodríguez worked a walk and scored when Eugenio Suárez laced a double into the gap in left-center field.

They added another run in the second in unconventional fashion. Josh Naylor led off with a single, advanced to third on a flyout and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Victor Robles to make it 2-0.

The historic moment came in the third. With one out, Raleigh connected on a Valdez offering, sending it deep into the night for a solo shot to right-center field. The blast was his 57th of the year, moving him one ahead of the Hall of Famer Griffey for the most in a single season in franchise history.

The Mariners continued to apply pressure in the fifth, chasing Valdez from the game. Raleigh walked and Rodríguez singled to put two on with one out. After a strikeout, Jorge Polanco loaded the bases with an infield single. Naylor then worked a bases-loaded walk to force in a run, and Dominic Canzone followed with a sharp single to right field to score another, extending the lead to 5-0.

Valdez was charged with five runs on six hits over 4 2/3 innings, walking four and striking out four to take the loss, falling to 12-11.

Seattle added what proved to be a critical insurance run in the seventh. Suárez led off with a double and scored on another double by Polanco, making it 6-0.

Kirby was dominant for Seattle, navigating six shutout frames. He worked around traffic, stranding five Astros baserunners and striking out seven to earn the win and improve to 10-7. The Astros threatened in the sixth, putting runners on the corners with one out, but Kirby struck out Isaac Paredes and got Jose Altuve to ground out to escape the jam.

Houston’s offense, silenced for six innings, erupted in the seventh against reliever Eduard Bazardo. Yainer Diaz and Jesús Sánchez hit back-to-back singles. After a groundout advanced both runners, Cam Smith was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Jeremy Peña then unloaded them, crushing a grand slam to left field off Gabe Speier to suddenly cut the deficit to 6-4 and energize the crowd of 42,065 at Daikin Park.

The Astros threatened again in the eighth, putting runners on second and third with one out, but Bryan Abreu struck out Yainer Diaz and Christian Walker to end the inning.

Muñoz entered for the ninth and immediately created trouble, hitting Meyers and walking Peña to bring the winning run to the plate in the form of Correa. On a 1-1 count, Correa lined a shot toward right field, but Robles made a spectacular diving catch. Meyers, who had taken off on contact, was easily doubled off second base to end the game in dramatic fashion.

The Mariners finished with nine hits, while the Astros collected 10. The game time was 3 hours, 1 minute.

The victory gives Seattle the season series over Houston and a crucial two-game cushion in the division with seven games remaining. The two teams conclude their pivotal three-game series on Sunday.