HOUSTON — As he walked off the mound after the eighth inning and approached the visitors’ dugout, Mariners starter Logan Gilbert knew the answer before he even made the request.

“One more,” Gilbert asked Scott Servais, hoping for a chance to pitch the ninth.

The Mariners manager, waiting at the top step of the dugout entrance, shook his head.

“You’ve done your job,” Servais told one of his emerging aces.

“When he’s waiting on the top step, it’s never a good sign,” Gilbert said later in the Mariners clubhouse. “He shut it down pretty quick.”

Gilbert had indeed done his job, carving up the Astros lineup for eight shutout innings and extending a historic streak of Mariners pitching in a 5-0 victory over their AL West foes Saturday evening before a crowd of 34,205 at Minute Maid Park.

A night after what might have been their most demoralizing loss of the season — a 5-3 late collapse in the series opener Friday — the Mariners (18-15) bounced back with what Servais called their most complete game of the season.

It wasn’t quite a complete outing for Gilbert, but a day before his 27th birthday he delivered everything the Mariners could have hoped for.

Gilbert allowed just two hits, with four walks and six strikeouts over a season-high eight innings, improving to 3-0 in seven starts and lowering his season ERA to 1.69, fifth-best among all MLB starters. His 50 strikeouts are tied for the AL lead.

“We had to win today. It was very important,” Gilbert said. “I’m just trying to give us a chance.”

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