A win was paramount.

The Mariners had been swept over the weekend and looked really, well, awful in the process.

For seven innings, they seemed en route to that cleansing victory. Though nothing was guaranteed as they held only held a two-run lead over a White Sox team capable of comebacks.

A run or two in the bottom of the eighth would’ve been ideal.

Colt Emerson gave them three while offering a highlight that will be played for the entirety of what is expected to be a long career in Mariners uniform.

Playing in his second MLB game, and his first with his parents, girlfriend and other family members in the stands watching him as a big leaguer, Emerson made his first hit unforgettable for everyone, pulling a low liner over the wall in right field and punctuating the Mariners 6-1 victory.

With Josh Naylor and Dom Canzone on base, Emerson stepped to the plate with two outs and right-hander Trevor Richards. He fell behind immediately on a pair of changeups. But similar to his previous at-bats, he woudln’t give in with two strikes. He refused to chase two pitches out of the zone, fouled off two more pitches and then made a lunging swing on a low changeup.

It was going to be his first MLB hit off the bat, but it carried over the wall for something even better as T-Mobile Park erupted in a frenzy.

He’s the 11th player in Mariners history to hit a homer for his first MLB hit.

Seattle got a stellar start from Bryan Woo.

Though his outing didn’t start off like a shutdown performance. He battled his way through a forgettable first inning that required 25 pitches and a little help from the White Sox.

Sam Antonacci led off with a single on the second pitch of the game.

When Woo walked Munetaka Murakami after getting up 0-2, it seemed as if he’d created a major issue two batters into the game.

But Antonacci helped the Mariners out. As he jogged to second, he noticed that rookie third baseman Colt Emerson had his back to the field and was looking out at toward the outfield.

About 10 steps from second, Antonacci decided to start spring, round second and go to third, believing he would beat Emerson and a throw from Woo to the base.

He misread the situation badly.

Emerson, who has 20-year-old legs and shortstop speed, raced to third, caught the throw from Woo and tagged out Antonacci easily for the first out.

After being gifted an out, Woo got Miguel Vargas to ground into a force out for the second out.

But a walk to Colson Montgomery left Woo irritated at allowing another free base runner.

In nine previous starts this season, Woo had never walked more than two batters. And now he’d walked two in the first four batters he faced.

Would it come back to haunt him?

Nope, Woo coolly struck out veteran DH Andrew Benintendi for the third out of the inning. He walked off the mound shaking his head in disgust.

Instead of letting more of the same continue, Woo reeled in his outing and pitch count. He worked a 1-2-3 second inning on eight pitches.

He would allow only two more baserunners the rest of the way. With one out in the second, Antonacci singled to right and Murakami followed with a groundball through the right side to put runners on the corners. Unfazed, Woo came back to strike out Vargas and Montgomery to end the inning. It was the start of 12 consecutive batters retired to finish his outing.

His final line: six scoreless innings, three hits allowed, two walks and nine strikeouts.

The Mariners provided him with adequate early run support, which isn’t something that happens often against left-handed starting pitchers.

Julio Rodriguez gave Seattle a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, smashing a solo homer to deep right-center off Sox lefty starter Noah Schultz.

Perhaps most impressive was his path to the homer. Rodriguez fell behind 0-2, but never gave in to Schultz, refusing to chase pitches out of the zone and fouling off three borderline pitches before hammering a 3-2 on the eighth pitch of the battle.

Seattle made it 2-0 with the help of Antonacci again. With two outs and Jhonny Pereda on first base, Randy Arozarena laced a line drive into the left field corner.

As Pereda rounded second, Antonacci, who was playing second base, had moved over into the area by shortstop as a backup to the cutoff man. He was standing in the baseline, watching left fielder Tristan Peters try and corral the ball.

Seeing Antonacci had his back to him, Pereda didn’t try to avoid him as he raced for third base. Second base umpire Mike Muchlinski singaled for obstruction of the baseurnner immediately.

Seeing that signal, third base coach Carlos Collazo waved Pereda home even though he had little chance of scoring. It was calculated risk on hoping to get the run on the obstruction call. The relay throw to the plate beat Pereda by 10 steps, but home plate umpire Tripp Gibson ruled that the run scored.

White Sox manager Will Venable immediately argued the call and the umpire crew met for a few minutes. They came back and ruled that Pereda would score and Arozarena was awarded third base.

A highly-displeased Venable let Gibson and Muchlinski know what he thought of the call and was ejected.

Seattle tacked on a third run in the sixth inning when Josh Naylor ripped a single to right to score Arozarena to make it 3-0.

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