ANAHEIM -- Another game, another limited offensive showing early and another big breakthrough late. It was lather, rinse, repeat for the Mariners on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium in an 8-2 victory, one in which they again spoiled the night for the Angels and clinched this three-game series.

The Mariners are now 12-3-1 in their past 16 series, during which they are 35-15, MLB’s second-best record over that span, behind only the Dodgers (41-9). Seattle holds the top American League Wild Card spot, and this has been the club's best 16-series stretch since its final 16 in 2001, the last time it reached the postseason and when it set an MLB record with 116 wins.

But back to Tuesday, and where to start?

The first 16 Mariners batters going down in order? Ty France overcoming a tough August with a trademark game-tying knock? Going for the jugular with five insurance runs in the ninth? Robbie Ray striking out 10 in another quality start?

A look at each:

Creating timely traffic
After laboring against Angels starter José Suarez, who was perfect into the sixth, the Mariners finally chased the deceptive lefty by tagging him for four straight one-out singles, capped by a two-run knock from France on a high-and-away fastball in a full count. Seattle’s first baseman was 6-for-48 this month entering that at-bat, but he found a hole down the right-field line in the fashion he does best -- by not trying to do too much.

“To be honest, every time I get in the box, it’s a singular at-bat,” France said. “I haven’t really been thinking about [struggling] much. It’s one of those things where you kind of reflect on it after the game, but during the game, you’ve got to take it one at-bat at a time.”

In the next plate appearance -- after Angels manager Phil Nevin went to reliever Jimmy Herget -- Jesse Winker plated Julio Rodríguez on a sacrifice fly to take a 3-2 lead, one the Mariners wouldn’t relinquish.

Seattle's success in close games has been well-chronicled, and a big factor for that has simply been its ability to create traffic. The Mariners did so regularly during their worst stretch from May-June, but they struggled to consistently cash in.

“You just have a deeper lineup, more guys capable of coming through in those spots,” manager Scott Servais said. “And we're going to need them. Everybody has to contribute on this team. We don't have the one big superstar, but everyone has to do their jobs. When we do that, we’re in good shape.”

Another epic ninth
Seattle was shaping up to extend its MLB-best 27-14 record in one-run games, but in the ninth, Adam Frazier (who broke up the perfect game earlier) hit a two-run triple, Sam Haggerty beat out an RBI infield single and Rodríguez crushed a two-run homer, resulting in five insurance runs.

While the Mariners have thrived in one-run contests, even Servais has said that he prefers late insurance rather than an anxious finish night in and out. Good teams typically keep their foot on the gas to the end, and by doing so on Tuesday, Servais was able to pitch Erik Swanson in the ninth inning of a blowout rather than use Paul Sewald for a save opportunity.

“The tension is there, the focus,” Frazier said. “We know what we’ve got to do night in and night out. The tension on defense is there. The pitchers, we’ve got a really good bullpen and really good starters, so we know we’re going to be in the game. We just try to stay focused and keep knocking on the door and keep putting pressure on them.”

Ray back on track
The left-handed Ray struck out 10 for the seventh time in 24 starts, but it was the inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the third that was arguably his best moment, mainly because it underscored how far he’s come from earlier this year, when runaway innings were his biggest culprit.

“I think it’s just a better focus from the start of the game,” Ray said. “It’s all mental, really. Just making the mental adjustments to understand that in situations when things start to go a little haywire, just knowing when to take a step back and knowing that you’re just one pitch away from getting out of an inning.”

In an effort to “get back to who I am,” as Ray said following his most recent start, he again went heavier with his slider and effectively buried it to the Angels’ mostly mixed-hitting lineup, inducing 10 whiffs with the pitch and 15 overall. Now that Ray has put two tough showings against the Astros on July 24 and July 29 behind him -- at least until a potential meeting with them in October -- he’s back on cruise control.

Tuesday didn’t feature chaos ball like the opener, nor was it as late of a breakthrough as Monday’s ninth-inning outburst. But it was another showcase of timely hitting, quality baserunning, solid pitching -- and the Mariners keeping their foot on the gas late.