HOUSTON -- With Carlos Correa and Evan Gattis leading the sprint out of the gate, a pair of division rivals had their hopes for an American League West title officially squashed. Now, just one team serves as an obstacle on the path to the Houston Astros' first division pennant in 16 seasons.

Correa and Gattis paced the offense by recording multi-hit games, right-hander Charlie Morton delivered a quality start, and the Astros inched closer to a division championship with a 5-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night at Minute Maid Park.

The Astros (89-58) reduced their magic number to clinch the division to two games and eliminated the Mariners (74-74) and Texas Rangers from title contention. Houston could clinch on Saturday, if it beats Seattle and the Los Angeles Angels lose to Texas Rangers.

"We're excited. We can't wait for that," Correa said. "We're chasing that first and then we want obviously to have the best record in the American League. So hopefully we can clinch soon and then go after the other one. We're staying focused. We're trying to play hard every single day and trying to win."

Correa finished 2-for-4 while Gattis went 2-for-3 with a walk. Both recorded run-scoring hits in support of Morton (12-7), who allowed just one run on five hits and one walk with seven strikeouts over six innings. It marked the first time that Morton worked at least six innings while allowing fewer than two runs since a 9-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 16.

Houston jumped on Mariners left-hander James Paxton (12-4) for three first-inning runs in his return from a five-week stint on the disabled list.

Seattle (74-74) had its three-game winning streak snapped but did not lose ground in the chase for the second AL wild card. The Minnesota Twins dropped a 4-3 decision to Toronto.

The Mariners anticipated Paxton making between 50-60 pitches, and he hit that minimum on the nose. However, what was unexpected was the brevity of his outing and his struggles.

"It shows you it's really hard for guys to be on the DL, be away from competition, have no rehab and come back and face a good team," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said of Paxton. "We put some really good at-bats against him in the first and he didn't have a chance to settle in. We put pressure on him from the very beginning."

Four batters into the bottom of the first the Astros had scored twice as many runs against Paxton as they did in their three previous starts against him this season. When Correa followed an RBI single by Jose Altuve that scored Springer with a run-scoring double, the Astros led 2-0.

"I felt off," Paxton said. "I felt like I went to throw and there was nothing there, but I didn't know what the problem was when I was out there. It's hard to fix something like that in a game and also get guys out."

Gattis added to the ambush with a single to center field that scored Altuve for a 3-0 lead. When Springer ripped a one-out double to left in the second inning Paxton got the hook, having allowed three runs on four hits and two walks. Before making his first appearance since Aug. 10, Paxton had surrendered just one earned run over 20 innings against Houston this season.

"Paxton was just out of sync," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "His arm felt fine. No issues there. I just think his timing, where he was at mechanically and release point, feeling like he knew where the ball was going out of his hand, he just got a little funky tonight. He hadn't been out there in a month. ... Tonight he couldn't get in a rhythm mechanically."

NOTES: Astros RHP Lance McCullers will throw a bullpen session on Saturday, the result of which will determine his status moving forward. McCullers was scratched from his start on Wednesday due to arm fatigue. Should he complete his bullpen without a hitch, he is likely to start on Tuesday against the White Sox. ... Mariners starters fell to 6-2 with a 3.34 ERA over 14 starts this month. Mariners LHP James Paxton had his streak of quality starts snapped at nine. ... Astros RHP Collin McHugh is available to pitch out of the bullpen after leaving his previous start on Sept. 8 at Oakland with a right middle finger avulsion. McHugh is a candidate to start on Tuesday against the White Sox should RHP Lance McCullers remain limited by arm fatigue.