SEATTLE -- With the A’s holding a two-run lead after eight innings, Trevor May knew the bottom of the ninth was shaping up to be his. Once he received the official call from bullpen coach Mike McCarthy, his emergence from beyond the left-field fence onto the grass at T-Mobile Park felt like stepping into a time machine.

The last time May was tasked with closing out a game in Seattle prior to Tuesday night came 15 years prior. Back then, an 18-year-old May drew the start for Kelso High at then-Safeco Field in the 2008 Washington state semifinals against Meadowdale High. He tossed a complete game that night, striking out 12 in a victory that provided him the chance to experience the thrill of recording the final out of a baseball game in a Major League ballpark.

Growing up about two hours south of Seattle, May often envisioned himself performing in that same scenario for the hometown Mariners. On Tuesday, that fantasy turned reality -- albeit in a different uniform -- as he sealed Oakland’s 3-1 win over the Mariners with three strikeouts in a scoreless ninth to secure his 15th save.

“I kind of started here, and now we’re here 15 years later,” May said. “That was pretty cool. Especially in this atmosphere with how they’re playing lately. We’re in the seat of spoiler, and we want to ruin as many dreams as possible right now.”

It was the A’s first victory in nine tries this season against a first-place Mariners squad that entered the night having won 20 of its last 24 games, and it did not come without some drama. After May began the ninth with back-to-back strikeouts of Dylan Moore and Cade Marlow, a pair of hits set up Seattle with the tying run on second base.

Engaging in a seven-pitch battle with Eugenio Suárez, May silenced a raucous sellout crowd of 44,280 by firing a 94.6 mph fastball by the Mariners' third baseman for the final out. The punchout was immediately followed by a roar on the mound from May, who had about 45 friends and family members in attendance for his homecoming.

“Coming here and doing this on this field in front of that many people, that’s something I’ve seen in my head, only just wearing a different jersey,” May said. “It was a little bit of a realization of a dream.”

Signed to a one-year, $7 million deal this offseason, May battled early-season woes before he approached the team about heightening struggles with his mental health, leading to the A’s placing him on the injured list with issues related to anxiety on April 19.

Since his return on May 23, May has enjoyed massive success. The 33-year-old right-hander has now converted 15 of his last 16 save opportunities and has not allowed a run in 12 of his last 13 relief appearances.

What has led to the turnaround? In addition to relying less on the fastball than he has in the past and utilizing more offspeed pitches in hitters’ counts, May attributes it to a shift in mindset.

“In the past, I think the way I would think about pitching would be more life and death sometimes, and not as life and death other times,” May said. “Through the struggles I had earlier in the year, I had to address a lot of that stuff and realize how it wasn’t just isolated. It was very much part of being uncomfortable, which you’re supposed to be in this game, but there’s a certain level of … just realizing how much my brain had to do with the ups and downs at times.”

May capped what was an impressive showing by the A’s bullpen. After a high pitch count led to starter Ken Waldichuk’s departure following four-plus innings of one-run ball, five A’s relievers combined to hold a hot-hitting Seattle offense to just three hits in five innings. 

“The bullpen came in and did an unbelievable job,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “That’s a game this year that we’ve seen our offense score early and not add on, and us not be able to hold the lead. Tonight was a great sign of the progress we’ve made.”

Offensively, Seth Brown and Shea Langeliers supplied the run support with a pair of homers. For Langeliers, his 439-foot two-run blast in the second marked his fifth home run over his last eight games.

“His swing looks great right now,” Kotsay said of Langeliers. “The most impressive hit was the line drive [single] the other way. That’s an area he’s been working hard on. I couldn’t be more excited about Shea’s last couple of weeks and going forward.”