CHICAGO -- On a day when Mariners manager Scott Servais said he needed more from his starting pitching, Marco Gonzales delivered.
Coming off an eight-strikeout effort last week against the Astros, Gonzales threw six-plus brilliant innings and matched his season high with another eight strikeouts on Tuesday in the Mariners' 1-0 victory over the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.
"Every time out, I'm trying to build off of something I did the last time," Gonzales said. "I'm just trying to take positives out of every start and build on it and stay aggressive."
Gonzales managed to pitch out of a couple of jams when necessary, using a pickoff and a double play to avoid trouble in the first inning before he notched his final strikeout with two runners on the corners in the sixth.

Mitch Haniger, who had homered in four straight games, didn't extend the streak on Tuesday, but he did come through with a fourth-inning RBI single that drove in Kyle Seager, who doubled with two outs. Haniger finished 1-for-4 with three strikeouts.
His lone hit, however, accounted for all the offense the Mariners needed.

"I was just trying to hit the ball hard," Haniger said. "Luckily, it squeaked through and got the run across."
Gonzales, who finished one strikeout off his career best of nine, scattered five hits and walked one. After opening the first inning with back-to-back hits, the White Sox went hitless until Tim Anderson led off the sixth with a single.
Relievers Dan Altavilla and Marc Rzepczynski protected the 1-0 lead in the seventh when they retired the next three hitters, stranding Moncada at second base. Edwin Diaz earned his ninth save of the season with a perfect ninth.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Pickoff move: After allowing back-to-back singles Anderson and Yolmer Sanchez in the first inning, Gonzales picked off Anderson in a confusing play in which both Anderson and Sanchez got caught up in rundowns. Anderson, who started at second, was eventually nabbed at third on what went down as a 1-4-5-3-6-5 caught-stealing, while Sanchez made it back to first. Gonzales then induced a more conventional 5-4-3 double play from Jose Abreu to escape the inning.
"After the pickoff, my confidence went way up," Gonzales said.

Leave them looking: With the Mariners leading 1-0 in the sixth inning, Gonzales protected the razor-thin margin when he struck out Matt Davidson looking. The strikeout, Gonzales' eighth of the day, came after he allowed a two-out single to Welington Castillo that pushed Anderson to third. White Sox manager Rick Renteria was ejected by home-plate umpire Mike Estabrook after a vociferous argument over the called third strike to Davidson.
"You're picking the right times when you want to extend Marco and [show] him that we do have a lot of faith in him and trust in him," Servais said. "He was still throwing the ball really well at that point and made pitches when he needed to. [I'm] happy for him, and we had just enough offense today, as well."

HE SAID IT
"I tried to use every advantage I could get. Talking to a couple of hitters in the first inning, saying, 'What are you seeing out there, what's kind of deceiving?' … Guys just said, 'Everything that comes out looks like a fastball -- you don't know what it is.'" -- Gonzales, on making the most of the shadows hitters had to deal with as part of Tuesday's late afternoon start
UP NEXT
Right-hander Felix Hernandez (2-2, 5.06 ERA) has shown flashes of rediscovering his old form, but has yet to truly get rolling and will look for his first victory since April 10. Hernandez will face Chicago's James Shields in a matinee set for 11:10 a.m. PT on Wednesday.