SEATTLE -- On a night when Seattle starter James Paxton flirted with a perfect game for five innings, Houston's Mike Fiers was the one feeling perfectly satisfied.

Fiers bounced back from his worst outing of the season to throw six scoreless innings, and third baseman Yuli Gurriel delivered a two-run single in the sixth inning as the Astros beat Seattle 2-1 on Saturday night to move further into the crowded American League wild-card race.

"We needed all the good pitching we could get based on how (Paxton) was throwing," manager A.J. Hinch said. "It was another good outing by our starter -- and if we can get that, we're a pretty interesting team."

Houston (78-70) moved into a tie with the Mariners in the American League wild-card standings, three games behind Baltimore. Seattle (78-70) has lost two in a row after entering the series on an eight-game losing streak.

"Every series is huge now," Astros designated hitter Tyler White said. "We go out every day, try to take care of the task at hand and we'll see where we stand at the end."

Fiers (11-7) allowed three hits over six scoreless innings, striking out four with one walk. It served as a near-perfect bounce-back to his 2 1/3-inning debacle against the Cubs last weekend.

"I was just trying to stay in good counts," Fiers said. "I attacked them early and believed in my stuff."

The Mariners extended their scoreless streak to 18 innings before Seth Smith delivered a one-out RBI double in the bottom of the eighth. Smith's towering fly ball into the gap scored Norichika Aoki from first base to cut the Astros' lead to 2-1.

Houston closer Ken Giles came on in the ninth and got all three Seattle hitters to earn his 11th save. Giles struck out two, using a fastball that touched 100 miles per hour, and whiffed Mariners center fielder Leonys Martin on an 88-mile-per-hour slider to end the game.

"The last couple of nights we've been a little anxious at the plate, and they've feasted on that," said Seattle manager Scott Servais, whose team had seven hits Saturday and now has 10 hits and one run over the first two games of the series.

Paxton (4-7) threw five perfect innings, retiring 15 in a row to start the game before Houston's Teoscar Hernandez led off the sixth with a single up the middle. Hernandez's liner back to the mound barely missed Paxton, who ducked his head to avoid getting drilled. Astros designated hitter Tyler White followed with a double before Gurriel delivered a two-out, two-run single to give Houston a 2-0 lead.

"It's unfortunate they bunched up some hits there in the sixth," Paxton said. "But we're going to turn it around here, start getting some hits and start winning games again."

Paxton allowed two runs off four hits over seven innings, striking out seven. His only walk was intentional.

Aoki had three hits for the Mariners, while Smith went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz combined to go 0-for-8 for the second game in a row.

Neither team was able to generate much offense early on.

Paxton retired the first 15 batters in order and he struck out four during that span. Houston hit four balls out of the infield -- all flyouts to right.

Seattle's hitters didn't fare much better against Fiers. The Mariners' first two batters singled, but Fiers allowed only one hit over the next four innings.

Aoki had two of Seattle's first three hits, including a leadoff single that led to Aoki being picked off first base. Smith followed with a single before Fiers retired seven batters in a row. Aoki ended that streak with a two-out double in the third inning but got stranded when Fiers struck out Smith to end the inning.

Aoki's double was the first extra-base hit for Seattle in the series. The Mariners managed only three hits off Collin McHugh and two Houston relievers in a 6-0 loss Friday night.

"We've got a great starting rotation," Fiers said. "Maybe things haven't gone the way we want it to, but we're still trying to go out and do our job."

NOTES: Houston's rotation for the upcoming series with the Athletics will include RHP Brad Peacock, who gets a third shot in the rotation as the Astros weather the storm without injured starters Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers. Peacock, who has allowed two runs over 9 2/3 innings in his two starts since coming out of the bullpen, is scheduled to be on the mound for Monday's opener at Oakland. ... The Houston Chronicle reported Saturday that the Astros have filed an appeal with Major League Baseball, seeking two errors to be overturned to base hits during 2B Jose Altuve at-bats Friday night. He went 2-for-5 in the victory over Seattle and reached base twice on grounders that Mariners infielders were unable to corral. ... Seattle's Nelson Cruz (37 homers, 92 RBIs), Robinson Cano (33 homers, 87 RBIs) and Kyle Seager (29 homers, 93 RBIs) have a chance to become the second Mariners' trio to record 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in a season. Ken Griffey Jr., Jay Buhner and Alex Rodriguez accomplished the feat in 1996. ... In the first of two games against left-handed starters, the Astros went with eight right-handed batters and switch hitter Marwin Gonzalez. That left OF Colby Rasmus and C Jason Castro on the bench in favor of youngsters Teoscar Hernandez and Tyler White. ... The Astros and Mariners wrap up the three-game series Sunday afternoon, but they won't have to wait long to see each other again. They play a three-game series in Houston beginning Friday.