SEATTLE -- Seattle Mariners rookie Taijuan Walker got into such a rhythm this spring that his quest for a roster spot was cemented early in the Cactus League season.

The Mariners have been waiting to see that kind of command since the real games began, and on Friday night the 22-year-old starter finally delivered.

In the finest outing of his young career, Walker baffled the Cleveland Indians while leading the Mariners to a 2-1 win.

Walker (2-5) pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing just two hits, and he got all the offense he needed on designated hitter Seth Smith's two-run homer in the sixth. Walker matched a career high with eight strikeouts, without walking a batter, while his eight innings equaled the longest outing of his 21 career starts.

"In spring training I got in a rhythm, and today I was trying to get back in it -- and I think I did that," said Walker, who has struggled with control at times this season and saw his season ERA drop from 7.33 to 6.18 with Friday's performance.

Walker has been so shaky this season that manager Lloyd McClendon has been forced to defend him at times. There was no need for such theatrics Friday night.

"With young starters, there are going to be two starts where you're going to be shaking your head, then one where he gives you that glimpse of the future," McClendon said. "Tonight, you saw that glimpse. I will say this: he's taken a step forward the last three outings."

Walker was good enough to earn his first win since April 27, but closer Fernando Rodney made things interesting with another shaky ninth inning.

Rodney replaced Walker to start the ninth and retired the first two batters before a walk and an RBI-triple from pinch hitter Ryan Raburn cut the lead to 2-1. After a mound visit from McClendon, Rodney got Cleveland left fielder Michael Brantley to pop out to left field to earn his 14th save of the season.

Rodney now has a 7.08 ERA on the season, but McClendon isn't concerned.

"I've been known to stand up for my players, and I'm standing up for my closer," the Mariners' manager said after the win. "He's pretty damn good. ... ERAs mean absolutely nothing when it comes to closers. What matters is that you get it done -- and he gets it done."

Seattle's Smith, who was batting cleanup for the first time this season, lived up to the role with a two-run home run in the sixth, giving Seattle a 2-0 lead.

That was the only big mistake for Cleveland starter Trevor Bauer, who matched Walker for most of the game. Bauer (4-2) allowed just six hits and two runs in seven innings, striking out 10.

"He gave us seven really good innings," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "... It wasn't very efficient, but you look up after seven innings with only two runs, we'll take it."

Seattle struck out 11 times and now has 27 strikeouts over the first two games of the series.

Smith's home run extended the Mariners' streak of games with at least one homer to eight. Seattle (24-24) has now scored 86 of its 180 runs this season via home runs, giving the Mariners the highest percentage (47.8) in baseball.

Cleveland (22-26) came within one out of being shut out for the first time since April 22. Francona said Walker's fastball, which clocked as high as 97 miles per hour, had a lot to do with that.

"There is so much life to that fastball," the Cleveland manager said. "It was just a dominant fastball. He probably threw it four out of every five pitches, but it was beating us for the most part."

Walker gave up a leadoff single before retiring 13 consecutive batters, six by way of strikeout. Cleveland designated hitter Nick Swisher finally came through with a two-out single in the fifth inning to break the drought.

Bauer got out of trouble in the fourth to keep the scoreless deadlock going and then struck out the side in th