SEATTLE -- The golden trident that has become a tradition for the A’s to hand out to the player of the game this season did not travel with the club for its current seven-game road trip. But with Sean Manaea turning in a performance in Wednesday night’s 6-0 win over the Mariners that was deserving of such a bestowment, right-hander Chris Bassitt improvised.

Bassitt interrupted Manaea’s postgame session with reporters and handed him a piece of paper. Manaea held up the artwork to the screen, revealing a drawing of a small trident to resemble the 40-pound replica that resides inside Oakland’s clubhouse back at the Coliseum.

“I don’t think it’s the same one,” Manaea laughed. “But it’s close enough.”

Manaea was trident-worthy as he blanked the Mariners over nine stellar frames for a shutout at T-Mobile Park. The left-hander allowed just four hits -- all singles -- and two walks while striking out eight batters to secure a series victory over Seattle and keep Oakland atop the American League West standings.

Throwing a season-high 111 pitches, the nine-inning complete game was Manaea’s first since April 21, 2018, when he threw a no-hitter against the Red Sox at the Oakland Coliseum. Manaea also had a seven-inning complete game this season on April 20 against the Twins in the first game of a doubleheader.

What stood out the most from Manaea’s dominance this time around, though, was an uptick in velocity that he hadn’t shown in nearly five years. His fastball averaged 92.9 mph on Wednesday, which was higher than the 91.3 mph it averaged for the season entering the night, and maxed out at 95.8 mph. According to Statcast, the 95.8 mph pitch he threw to Jake Fraley in the third was the fastest pitch he’s thrown since a 95.9 mph heater against the Angels on Sept. 26, 2016.

“I haven’t seen that in quite some time from him,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “The breaking ball was good. The changeup was good. When he’s got all three pitches working like that, he’s tough to deal with.”

Manaea attributed the increased velocity to working smarter instead of harder as he goes through his sixth Major League season, shifting away from a heavy focus on lifting weights to balancing out his workouts in between starts with more cardio-targeted exercises.

“I think I’m doing some things a little bit differently,” Manaea said. “When I was younger, I felt like I needed to get stronger over the season and would push myself in the weight room. Now, I tell myself that I’d rather feel fresh in between starts, so I’m doing a mix of cardio and lifting instead of just trying to squat my way to throwing harder.”

The A’s provided Manaea with plenty of run support in a five-run third that featured an impressive 13-pitch battle by Elvis Andrus against Mariners right-hander Chris Flexen that ended with a double and set the table for the big inning, one which culminated with a booming two-run homer by Mitch Moreland that traveled 444 feet.

Soon after that offensive outburst, the only question remaining was if Manaea would get to finish what he started.

Sitting at 70 pitches after completing the fifth, Manaea increased his efficiency by facing the minimum over the next three innings. He was already at a season-high 103 pitches through eight innings. But after noticing that Manaea’s fastball was still hitting around 93-94 mph in the eighth, Melvin decided to allow his pitcher the chance to finish it off.

“I wanted to stay in the game,” Manaea said. “I was just feeling good. If I got into some trouble, I knew the bullpen had my back. It was just emptying the tank and trying to finish it off.”

Taking the mound for the ninth with Lou Trivino warming up in the bullpen, Manaea quickly shook off Tony Kemp’s fielding error to lead off the inning by striking out Kyle Seager on four pitches. One pitch later, Manaea induced a double play from Ty France -- the lefty’s third double play of the night -- to end the contest at 111 pitches.

Lowering his ERA to an A’s rotation-best 3.36, Manaea’s complete game was the second in the span of a week for an A’s starting pitcher, following up a masterful performance by Bassitt in a shutout of the Angels last Friday in Oakland.

“He was in complete control the whole time,” Moreland said. “He moved everything around and threw the ball great. Seems like these [starters] feed off each other and are trying to match or one-up the other. It’s fun to watch these guys on the mound.”