SEATTLE — The baseball gods can be a cantankerous group of curmudgeons, lamenting the bygone days of sacrifice bunts and choking up on the bat. But they also have devilish sense of humor.

So a day after becoming just the second team to blow a six-run lead in the ninth inning since 2011, the Mariners, of course, again found themselves entering the ninth inning ahead by six runs.

This time, catastrophe did not ensue. This time the Mariners closed it out. Reliever Evan Scribner worked a 1-2-3 inning, and the Mariners prevailed 6-0, pleasing an antsy and chilled crowd of 44,856 that showed up to the home opener at Safeco Field despite a dismal start to the season.

Mariners starter James Paxton was outstanding, pitching seven shutout innings, allowing four hits with two walks and four strikeouts on 103 pitches (65 strikes). Paxton allowed just one runner to reach second base in his first six innings, flashing an upper-90s fastball and biting breaking pitches. Carlos Correa had three of those hits.

The only real trouble Paxton encountered came in his last inning, with his pitch count in the 90s. He gave up back-to-back singles to Correa and Carlos Beltran to start the inning. With relievers hurrying to get warm in the bullpen, Paxton cleaned up his own mess, coaxing a pop-up to first from Evan Gattis, striking out Marwin Gonzalez and getting help from Leonys Martin on a nice running catch in left-center field to close out his start.

Paxton has yet to allow a run this season, having thrown 13 scoreless innings in his two starts with six hits allowed and 13 strikeouts.

The Mariners (2-6) appeared to be trending toward another feckless, runner-stranded offensive showing for the first four innings against Astros starter Charlie Morton. Not only had they failed to score, but they had also blown a bases-loaded, no-out opportunity in the fourth inning.

It was met with a chorus of boos from the crowd, displeased with what they had just witnessed in the inning and for the previous seven games.

Being booed in the home opener might have provided just a little motivation.

With one out and Taylor Motter on first, Mitch Haniger continued his strong start to his rookie season, doubling down the third-base line. With one out and runners on second and third, the Astros signaled for Robinson Cano to be intentionally walked, now without the need of lobbed pitches.

It brought Nelson Cruz to the plate with the bases loaded. By his own admission Cruz has been out of sorts at the plate, fouling off hittable fastballs and stranding runners on base.

But this time the big designated hitter came through. He worked the count 2-0 as he had done so many times in the previous games to get into a hitter’s count. And he didn’t miss the hitter’s pitch, lining a 95-mph fastball into center to score Motter and Haniger.

The Mariners tacked on another run when Kyle Seager hit a line drive to deep right that was caught but allowed Cano to tag up and score. It was the hardest hit ball for Seager in the past five games.

Seattle picked up two more runs in the sixth against lefty Tony Sipp. With one out and runners on first and second, Haniger singled through the right side to score Mike Zunino. Josh Reddick’s wayward throw to third from right field flew into the Astros’ dugout, allowing Jarrod Dyson to jog home and make it 5-0.

The Mariners pushed the lead to 6-0 on a sacrifice fly to deep center that scored Cruz from third.

There was some drama. In the eighth inning, Mariners reliever Dan Altavilla loaded the bases with one out and the ultra-dangerous Correa at the plate. But a well-placed 89-mph slider on a 2-2 count struck out Correa looking. Altavilla got Beltran to pop out to end the inning.

Angels 10, M’s 9

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Angels provided a reminder of why their sport is different from most.

“There’s no time limit in these games,” Cliff Pennington said. “You’ve got to get 27 outs. They didn’t get the 27th one today.”

Pennington’s walk-off hit capped the Angels’ seven-run rally in the bottom of the ninth, leading to a jaw-dropping 10-9 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday afternoon.

It was the first time since Aug. 29, 1986 that the Angels had scored at least seven in the ninth to win by one.

It also broke a streak of 346 straight big league games in which a team leading by six in the ninth held on to win, according to ESPN Stats and Information. Dating back to 2011, teams with a lead of at least six in the ninth were 2,529-1.