American League Game Summary - Seattle at Tampa Bay

St. Petersburg, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Felix Hernandez tossed his second shutout of the season and Nelson Cruz hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning to help the Seattle Mariners sweep the Tampa Bay Rays with a 3-0 win on Wednesday.

Hernandez (8-1) finished with eight strikeouts and allowed just four hits and one walk to help the Mariners complete their first three-game sweep of the Rays in St. Petersburg since Sept. 18-20, 2000.

"Just an outstanding outing," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. "We're pitching, playing defense ... We are starting to hit our stride."

The Seattle ace improved to 8-0 over his last 12 day starts, but his counterpart was equally up to the task.

Chris Archer cruised through eight innings, surrendering just two hits and tying a career high with 12 strikeouts. He needed just six pitches to get through the eighth, but was relieved by Brad Boxberger (2-3) despite throwing just 95 pitches.

After striking out Mike Zunino and Austin Jackson, Boxberger issued walks to Seth Smith and Robinson Cano, who scored when Cruz crushed a 1-0 fastball to right-center.

"I was trying to go fastball down and away," said Boxberger. "I left it up to a guy who can obviously hit the ball a long way."

Hernandez returned to the mound and fired a 1-2-3 final frame to nail down his second complete game of the season.

The Rays mustered just two runners in scoring position during their fifth straight loss.