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 (10-7) 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 commanding lead, scoring single runs in each of the first three innings before adding two more in the fifth. Eugenio Suárez got Seattle on the board with an RBI double in the first, scoring Julio Rodríguez. A sacrifice fly by Victor Robles brought in Josh Naylor in the second.

The historic moment came in the third inning when Raleigh sent a Framber Valdez offering over the right-center field wall at Daikin Park, breaking a tie with Griffey for the most home runs in a season by a Mariners player.

Seattle extended its lead to 5-0 in the fifth. With the bases loaded, Naylor drew a walk to force in a run, and Dominic Canzone followed with a sharp RBI single. Jorge Polanco added an RBI double in the seventh to push the advantage to 6-0.

The game turned tense in the bottom of the seventh. After two quick outs, the Astros loaded the bases on a single by Yainer Diaz, a single by Jesús Sánchez and a hit-by-pitch to Cam Smith. Jeremy Peña then cleared the bases, launching a grand slam to left field off reliever Eduard Bazardo to cut the deficit to 6-4 and energize the crowd of 42,065.

Houston threatened again in the eighth, putting runners on second and third with one out, but Gabe Speier and Muñoz combined to strike out Yainer Diaz and Christian Walker to escape the jam.

Muñoz then navigated a nervous ninth inning to secure the win. The victory improved Seattle to 86-69, while the Astros fell to 84-71.

Valdez (12-11) took the loss for Houston, surrendering five runs on six hits over 4 2/3 innings. Peña provided nearly all of Houston’s offense, going 2 for 4 with his grand slam accounting for all four Astros runs.

The teams conclude their pivotal three-game series on Sunday.