ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- In terms of a team's biggest stars doing what they do best, the Seattle Mariners got exactly that Wednesday afternoon.

Ace Felix Hernandez threw a four-hit, complete-game shutout and Nelson Cruz hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning for a 3-0 win and three-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

"What a performance," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said of Hernandez's second shutout of the season. "I don't know what to say about the guy. When we need a complete game, he goes out and gives us a complete game. Phenomenal. Three-run home runs are not bad. They make you feel pretty good."

For eight innings, Hernandez's dominance was matched zero for zero by Rays starter Chris Archer, who matched a career high with 12 strikeouts and held the Mariners (23-23) to two hits in eight scoreless innings.

For the second day in a row, Tampa Bay's usually reliable bullpen failed them. Closer Brad Boxberger, who gave up a 10th-inning home run in Tuesday's loss, walked two in the ninth and surrendered Cruz's 18th home run of the season.

"As far as how I felt with all three pitches, I've never felt better," Archer (5-5) said. "I've had some better outcomes, as far as pitching a little bit deeper, but that's the best I've felt in a really long time."

Archer had thrown 95 pitches, needing only six in the eighth, and said he talked with manager Kevin Cash and pitching coach Jim Hickey and understood their reasoning to not bring him back out for the ninth.

"Arch was just phenomenal," Cash said. "We brought Box in, we had the right guy in there and they got him. I think Box (was) just a little out of whack, got behind some hitters and some good hitters got him."

Tampa Bay (24-24) has dropped five straight and on Friday starts a 10-game road trip, matching its longest of the season. Seattle has won five of six games and returns home for its next 11 games with momentum on its side.

"We're starting to hit our stride," McClendon said. "We're pitching, playing defense and starting to swing the bats. ... I'm proud of my guys and very proud of the way they grinded it out today."

Hernandez (8-1) said the competition with Archer motivated him. The two traded quick innings in a game that lasted only two hours and 13 minutes.

"That was tough competition," he said. "He's a really good pitcher. He just pounds the strike zone and strikes out a lot of people. For me, I just (had) to go out and match every inning."

Until the ninth, Seattle had only two at-bats with runners in scoring position, both in the first inning.

Boxberger struck out the first two batters he faced and then walked right fielder Seth Smith and second baseman Robinson Cano. Cruz then became the fourth player to put a home run in the Rays' touch tank (with actual rays) in right-center field. It was his 18th home run of the season.

After totaling three runs in three games, the Mariners found their bats late Tuesday -- rallying from a 6-3 deficit in the ninth to force extra innings, only to lose in the 10th on third baseman Kyle Seager's second home run of the night.

Hernandez, who threw a perfect game against the Rays in 2012, came in with a 5-2 record and 2.12 ERA against Tampa Bay -- although he had never won at Tropicana Field.

Archer has never beaten Seattle, with an 0-2 record and 4.11 ERA in four starts against the Mariners before Wednesday's game.

NOTES: For the third straight game, the Rays were without RF Steven Souza (wrist) and SS Asdrubal Cabrera (groin), who were injured Sunday in a loss to the Oakland A's. Cabrera was a pinch hitter Tuesday and again in the ninth Wednesday, and both players should return to the lineup Friday in Baltimore after the team's day off. ... Only three games separated first and last place in the American League East entering Wednesday, the tighte