Mariners' Harang shuts out Astros

SEATTLE -- Having already hit the 100-pitch mark through eight innings, 35-year-old Seattle Mariners starter Aaron Harang needed only one sentence to convince his manager to let him go out for the ninth.

"I told (Eric) Wedge: 'Let me try to finish this,'" Harang said.

That, and recent history, were enough to put Harang in position to close out Seattle's 4-0 win over the Houston Astros on Tuesday.

Harang recorded his second complete-game shutout in 15 days Tuesday night, holding the struggling Astros to just two hits.

J.D. Martinez had both of Houston's hits on a night when the Astros (22-44) never got past first base and lost their sixth straight game.

Harang (3-6) struck out a season-high 10 batters while throwing 114 pitches.

"He was fantastic," Wedge said. "When he commands his fastball, and it rides like it did (Tuesday night), he's real good."

Harang has now given up one earned run or fewer in three of his last four starts, dating back to a 9-0 win over the Padres on May 27.

On Tuesday, Harang joined Oakland's Bartolo Colon, Cleveland's Justin Masterson and St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainright as the only pitchers to pitch two complete-game shutouts this season.

"I felt good today," Harang said. "I was able to locate my fastball and get ahead early in the count, and my slider was working well too."

Harang retired 21 of the first 23 batters, throwing Seattle to a 3-0 lead through seven innings. Martinez had the lone hit in that span -- a two-out single in the second -- while another error on Mariners shortstop Brendan Ryan -- his fourth in five games -- put a baserunner on in the sixth. Martinez added a leadoff single in the eighth but did not advance.

Wedge had closer Tom Wilhelmsen working in the bullpen but decided to let Harang finish off his shutout in the ninth.

"It's definitely nice to be able to go back out there for the ninth," Harang said. "It's definitely different in the American League. In the National League, it depends on where you're hitting, and sometimes you've got to have a fit and fight with the manager."

The Mariners (29-37) scored a run in each of the first two innings, then Raul Ibanez added a solo home run in the sixth inning -- his second homer in as many nights and his 11th in 32 days -- to put the Mariners ahead 3-0. The 41-year-old Ibanez has a team-high 13 home runs.

"I don't know what 41 is supposed to feel like," Ibanez said. "I just keep doing what I can to help the team win."

Four of the five hits allowed by Houston starter Bud Norris over seven innings went for extra bases, including three doubles. Norris (5-6) allowed three runs off five hits over seven innings, striking out six.

"He did a great job of giving us everything he had," Houston manager Bo Porter said.

Norris allowed one run on a wild pitch and another on a sacrifice fly before Ibanez hit the solo homer off him in the sixth.

Seattle's Kyle Seager extended his hitting streak to 14 games while adding an RBI on an eighth-inning single off reliever Wesley Wright for a 4-0 lead.

Houston's offensive woes continued, as Tuesday marked the Astros' sixth straight game of scoring two runs or fewer.

The Astros' defensive lapses continued during the early part of Tuesday's game, when Houston committed errors in each of the first two innings to help push Seattle runs across.

Houston had three errors Monday in a loss to Seattle, all coming in the final five innings. Tuesday's start gave the Astros five errors in a span of seven innings spread over two nights.

"That's very disheartening, especially when you look at it as basic fundamentals," Porter said. "Throw the ball, catch the ball, back up the lanes from which the ball is coming."

The Mariners led off both the first and second innings with doubles, but on both occasions the runner ended up on third base because of errors on the throws from the outfield.

Seattle's Endy Chavez scored on a wild pitch in the first, then Nick Franklin came home on Michael Saunders' sacrifice fly in the second inning for a 2-0 lead. Both runs ended up being earned, despite the errors.

NOTES: Mariners C Mike Zunino, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2012 draft, was promoted from Triple-A Tacoma before the game. Zunino, who was hitting .238 at Tacoma, replaced C Brandon Bantz on the roster. ... Seattle 1B Kendrys Morales was a late scratch, having been listed in the cleanup spot on the original lineup card before being replaced with Alex Liddi about 90 minutes before the game. Liddi, who batted in the No. 9 spot, got his second consecutive start after Morales came out of Sunday's game with back stiffness. ... Tuesday marked the 10th anniversary of the Astros' six-pitcher no-hitter. On June 11, 2003, relievers Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner finished off an 8-0 win over the Yankees after starter Roy Oswalt suffered a groin injury in the first inning.