SEATTLE (Interstat) — Cam Schlittler continued his dominant start to the season with 6 1/3 shutout innings, and Paul Goldschmidt provided the decisive blow with a three-run homer as the New York Yankees held off the Seattle Mariners 5-3 on Wednesday afternoon at T-Mobile Park.

The victory sealed a 5-1 West Coast trip for the Yankees, who will carry baseball’s best record into their home opener Friday against the Miami Marlins. Seattle dropped to 3-4.

The most important sequence of the game arrived in the top of the sixth inning, breaking open what had been a tense pitcher’s duel. Yankees starter Schlittler and Mariners ace George Kirby were locked in a 1-0 game, with New York’s lone run coming on a first-inning RBI double by Ben Rice. Kirby had largely contained the Yankees’ lineup, but he walked Trent Grisham with one out in the sixth. After Aaron Judge flew out, Kirby walked Rice, bringing Goldschmidt to the plate with two on and two out.

On a 1-1 pitch, Goldschmidt drove a Kirby offering deep to left-center field, clearing the wall for a three-run homer that suddenly stretched the Yankees’ lead to 4-0. The blast silenced the crowd of 23,415 and ultimately provided the necessary cushion as Seattle mounted a late rally.

Schlittler (2-0) was the story for much of the evening, building on a stellar debut. After allowing a leadoff double to Brendan Donovan in the first, the right-hander was virtually untouchable. He retired the next 16 Mariners batters in order, not allowing another baserunner until Luke Raley’s one-out single in the seventh. Schlittler finished his afternoon having yielded just two hits, striking out seven and walking none on 79 pitches. Over his first two starts, he has now pitched 11 2/3 scoreless innings.

Kirby (1-1) took the loss, charged with four runs on five hits over six innings. He struck out six but issued three walks, with two of those runners coming around to score on Goldschmidt’s homer.

The Mariners, held to just two hits through seven innings, finally broke through against the Yankees’ bullpen in the eighth. Dominic Canzone and Cole Young hit consecutive one-out singles off reliever Camilo Doval. After a strikeout, Brendan Donovan walked to load the bases for Cal Raleigh, who lined a two-run single to right field, cutting the deficit to 4-2.

New York responded immediately in the top of the ninth, as Rice led off with a solo home run to right-center off Mariners reliever Cooper Criswell, restoring a three-run advantage at 5-2.

Seattle made one final push in the bottom of the ninth against Yankees closer David Bednar. Randy Arozarena led off with a double and scored two batters later on Canzone’s RBI single, making it 5-3. The tying run came to the plate, but Bednar induced a flyout from Cole Young to end the game, securing his third save of the season.

Rice finished 2 for 3 with a homer, a double, two RBIs and two runs scored for the Yankees, who managed just six hits but made them count. The Mariners out-hit New York 7-6, with Canzone going 2 for 4 with an RBI.

The game, which lasted 2 hours and 37 minutes, played out almost exactly as projected by Interstat’s game simulator, which had forecast a 5-3 Yankees win. The total of eight runs went over the pregame over/under line of 7.5.

New York now heads home riding high after a successful trip, having taken two of three from both San Francisco and Seattle. The Mariners embark on a road trip to Anaheim to face the Los Angeles Angels beginning Friday.