HOUSTON -- Nearly four years and 30 long, exhausting and psychologically burdensome games later, the Mariners finally came, saw and conquered their house of horrors.

With a 6-3 victory over the Astros on Wednesday, they won a series at Minute Maid Park for the first time since September 2018, a venue that they recognize they¡¯ll need to successfully navigate if they hope to snap their 20-year playoff drought. And particularly after being swept here last month, a much more competitive showing this week represented a huge step in the right direction, perhaps serving as an early-summer spark.

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Last month, the club was more guarded with public commentary on its struggles here, but this series was different. Did the players feel the need to prove -- to the league, to the Astros and perhaps even themselves -- that they¡¯re capable of winning here?

¡°You have to eventually get to that point, or we're never going to win the [AL] West,¡± Mariners manager Scott Servais said. ¡°That¡¯s where it's at. I thought we played really well against them at home, but it's different in this ballpark. They're really tough to beat here.¡±

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The only players who were around for that series win in 2018 and were on the roster Wednesday are Marco Gonzales and Matthew Festa -- and it was the kids who contributed most this week.

Cal Raleigh crushed a game-tying homer in the fourth inning on Tuesday -- just after Logan Gilbert had surrendered the lead -- his second homer of the week. Raleigh finished the series with six RBIs, all critical.

Gilbert navigated six innings against a pesky Astros lineup that was aggressively swinging early in counts and forcing him to adjust without swing-and-miss stuff. He positioned relievers Andr¨¦s Mu?oz, Paul Sewald and Diego Castillo well by leaving with a lead.

And earlier this week, Julio Rodr¨ªguez delivered a decisive ninth-inning dagger in an emotional win after both benches cleared on Monday. That tension didn¡¯t spill over on Wednesday, when Rodr¨ªguez was hit by fastballs in consecutive plate appearances and exhibited angst after the second. But a lingering rift between these clubs, who meet just twice more at each ballpark, is worth watching.

Raleigh, Rodr¨ªguez and Gilbert were growing up in the Minors as the Astros owned the AL West, and though they perhaps don¡¯t have as strong of a grasp as to how challenging this venue has been to Seattle, the experience they gained this week -- against a first-place team that has represented the division¡¯s established order -- was significant.

¡°Yeah, definitely,¡± Gilbert said. ¡°I think we¡¯ve got a nice mix of young guys, veterans, people in between, and to have the young guys kind of step up was huge.¡±

Added Raleigh: ¡°It¡¯s a tough lineup, especially when you play here. They're really good at home, so you have to be on.¡±

Gonzales, who didn¡¯t pitch this series, knows better than anyone 1) the challenges of overcoming Houston¡¯s hitter-friendly environment, 2) how difficult it is to hang onto a game here, with the threat of an offensive outbreak at any moment and, more symbolically, 3) how much has changed within the Mariners¡¯ organization since the last time they took two of three in the Astros¡¯ confines.

¡°I think collectively as a group, it just gives us a lot of confidence going forward to come in here and win a series,¡± Gonzales said. ¡°Because I would say in our division, this is probably the toughest place to play. And it was a great experience for [the young guys], but for the group, it was a huge, huge win for us.¡±

Beyond this three-gamer at Minute Maid Park, Seattle capped its nine-game road trip with its sixth win, victorious in each series in this weave through Baltimore, Arlington and Houston. It was also the Mariners¡¯ first winning road trip of the season after beginning the year with losses in 18 of their 26 games away from T-Mobile Park, the worst road record in the Majors at that point.

And after brutal travel through the first two months, covering more than 24,000 miles following Wednesday night¡¯s charter back to Seattle, the Mariners will now play 22 of their next 30 at home.

¡°Guys, they grind, and we're starting to understand what that's about,¡± Servais said. ¡°Guys, you get a long road trip, you've got late travel. Guys are tired. You have to grind through it if you want to win, and I think they do want to win in a really bad way.¡±