SEATTLE -- With the way the Houston Astros have been treating the Mariners as of late, there were plenty of Seattle players looking to reverse their fortunes on Saturday afternoon.

Starter Hisashi Iwakuma and closer Steve Cishek did their part to get back at the Astros, resulting in a 1-0 win that snapped the Mariners' five-game losing streak against Houston.

"It was payback," Iwakuma said after throwing seven strong innings against a Houston team that's had his number lately. "They got me pretty good the last couple of starts. We had to change our gameplan."

Iwakuma turned in his best outing of the season and Robinson Cano drove in the only run of the game with a sixth-inning RBI single as the Mariners beat Houston for the first time since May 7. The Astros (49-42) have since passed Seattle in the American League West standings and now trail first-place Texas by 4 1/2 games.

"We had a couple opportunities (of) late, felt like in the eighth and ninth both (when) we had guys on base," Houston manager A.J. Hinch said. "We just didn't create enough offense."

The Astros' best chance came in the top of the ninth, thanks to Marwin Gonzalez's leadoff double. Houston tried to move him to third on Jose Altuve's bunt, but Gonzalez got caught in a rundown - resulting in an out while Altuve ran to second base. Altuve then stole third, but Cishek struck out the final two batters to earn his 22nd save.

"Obviously, not the way I wanted to start the inning," Cishek said, "but I couldn't hit the panic button and I stayed focused."

After striking out Luis Valbuena, who had two home runs in four career at-bats against Cishek, the Seattle closer pumped his fist and let out a celebratory yell.

"It's been aggravating the last few outings," said Cishek, who has five blown saves and four losses since May 7. "To give up the leadoff double was frustrating. I'm not much of a fist-pump guy, but I was just kind of taking out some aggression there."

Iwakuma (10-6) allowed just two hits while striking out eight. His start came on a day when Houston's Lance McCullers (4-4) was almost as dominant.

Seattle's Leonys Martin had two hits, including a leadoff triple in the sixth that resulted in the only run of the game. Cano followed the triple with an RBI single to left.

"I had no question I couldn't get a ground ball and keep (Martin) there or get a couple punchouts in a row to keep the game 0-0," McCullers said. "(Cano) just kind of muscled the ball to the left side. The dude's getting paid $30 million a year to do that. Sometimes you make a good pitch, and the hitter finds a way."

Both starting pitchers were on top of their game early on. Iwakuma and McCullers combined to throw five scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts between them before Seattle finally pushed a run across in the sixth.

It marked the first time this season that Iwakuma did not allow a run in a game. He has won four consecutive starts, with an ERA of 2.39 in that span.

"He's a veteran, and he's a real pro," Seattle manager Scott Servais said. "And it's very fortunate we've got him."

Martin led off the sixth with a triple and scored on Cano's RBI single for a 1-0 Seattle lead. McCullers came out one batter later, having allowed one run off four hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out eight.

Houston (49-42) had four hits, three of which went for extra bases. The Astros wasted doubles by Altuve in the first inning, Carlos Correa in the seventh, and Gonzalez (in the ninth).

Houston's first real chance to score came in the seventh, when Correa hit a one-out double that fooled Seattle left fielder Daniel Robertson on the warning track. Robertson chased down the towering fly ball then made a jump at the wall, but the ball actually hit a few feet to his left, resulting in a stand-up double. Correa moved to third on a ground out, the second out of the inning, but Houston's Colby Rasmus grounded out to end the inning and strand him at third.

Seattle (46-45) won for just the third time in their past nine games.

NOTES: Seattle SS Ketel Marte (minor ankle sprain) and RF Nelson Cruz (bruised foot) were not in Saturday's starting lineup. Cruz fouled a pitch off his left foot during his first at-bat Friday but was able to stay in the game. Marte hurt his ankle in Friday's third inning. UTIL Shawn O'Malley got the start at shortstop, while LF Daniel Robertson stepped into Marte's leadoff spot. ... Friday's win was Houston's eighth in the past nine road games. ... Iwakuma had an 0-4 record and 7.50 ERA over his previous five outings against the Astros before Saturday's win. ... Correa went into Saturday's game with 35 career home runs as a shortstop. With one more, the 21-year-old would take over sole possession of first place on the Astros' all-time list of homers by a shortstop. ... The three-game series wraps up with another afternoon game Sunday. The Mariners will then host the Chicago White Sox, while Houston heads to Oakland for a three-game series with the Athletics.