SEATTLE -- Erasmo Ramirez felt strange from the moment he showed up at Safeco Field on Thursday afternoon.

The Tampa Bay Rays starter pitched plenty of games previously in the stadium, but never like this.

Ramirez tried to stay in the moment while facing his former team, and in the end he got the job done while beating the Seattle Mariners 2-1 Thursday night.

"It was kind of weird," Ramirez said after holding his ex-teammates to one run over 5 1/3 innings. "It's the first time in my life (pitching against a former team). They know me, I know them, and they're the kind of team that can hit everybody. I just tried to make sure the ball was where the catcher was calling it and let the guys play defense."

Ramirez (4-2) gave up seven hits and one walk while striking out five in his first game against the team that took him to spring training this year before dealing him to Tampa Bay on March 31 for left-hander Mike Montgomery.

"Anytime you go against a former team, you get locked in," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "It's good for him."

Kevin Jepsen, the last of four relievers used by the Rays (29-26), earned his second save of the season after pitching a scoreless ninth. Closer Brad Boxberger got the night off. Jepsen struck out Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano with a runner on second base to finish off Tampa Bay's third win in a row.

Cano's strikeout led to Seattle's 10th runner left on base, an all-too-familiar sight for the American League's worst team with runners in scoring position. The Mariners (24-30) got 10 hits in the game but went 1-for-11 with six strikeouts with runners in scoring position, extending the team's season-worst losing streak to six games.

"Obviously, we couldn't get them in," Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon said. "I believe, truly, that we're going to score a lot of runs. Tonight was just one of those nights that leaves you scratching your head."

New Mariners acquisition Mark Trumbo, who started at first base and hit fifth in the lineup, went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles in his debut with the team.

Seattle starter Roenis Elias (2-3) had another strong outing, allowing two runs on five hits over eight innings, but he took the loss.

"We pitched extremely well," McClendon said. "It's frustrating not to take advantage of that."

Ramirez and the four Tampa Bay relievers worked their way out of trouble all night, leaving a Seattle runner on base in all but one inning and leaving a runner in scoring position five times. On another occasion, Tampa Bay second baseman Logan Forsythe robbed Cano of a base hit to end a threat in the seventh.

"Just a game-saving play," Cash said.

Right fielder Steven Souza Jr. and first baseman Jake Elmore each had an RBI for the Rays, while Cano drove in the Mariners' only run with a fifth-inning single.

Trumbo, Cano and center fielder Austin Jackson each had two hits for the Mariners.

Souza drove in the first run of the game with a single in the fourth. First baseman Jake Elmore added an RBI on a groundout as Tampa Bay took a 2-0 lead.

The Rays had two stolen bases in the fourth inning and initially had a third, but an instant-replay challenge led to a reversal and resulted in the third out of the inning as Elmore was ruled out at second.

Ramirez had plenty of early success against his former team. He pitched four scoreless innings before the Mariners finally got to him with three consecutive singles in the bottom of the fifth. Cano capped it off with an RBI single, cutting Tampa Bay's lead to 2-1, but he then got picked off first base, and Ramirez escaped the jam.

Afterward, Ramirez said beating his former team wasn't as significant as what it meant for the Rays.

"It's not like I feel better (that it was the Mariners)," Ramirez said. "I just feel good we won and stayed a half-g