SEATTLE — Oakland pitcher Brett Anderson understands the importance of the Athletics hosting the American League wild-card game.

“It’s like a Raiders game,” Anderson said Saturday. “You get the Black Hole; you get crazy people.”

Anderson struck out three in five strong innings and Ramon Laureano hit a solo home run in the third inning as the A’s beat the Seattle Mariners 1-0, clinching the right to host the Tampa Bay Rays in a wild-card matchup on Wednesday.

Tampa Bay lost 4-1 at Toronto earlier in the day, while Oakland is steamrolling into the playoffs. The A’s have won three of their past four games and are 18-7 in September.

The winningest team in baseball since June 16 with a record of 60-28 the A’s are 33 games above .500 for the first time since 2002.

Oakland used Anderson (13-9) and three relievers for the victory. Anderson allowed three hits, extending his career high for wins. Melvin said he was willing to let Anderson pitch the sixth, but after 10 days rest and with temperatures dropping throughout the game, he began to experience tightness in his elbow.

Jesus Luzardo struck out three in the eighth and ninth for his second save, getting out of a jam in the ninth with two runners on base.

The Mariners’ only real threat came in the fifth, when Mallex Smith attempted a safety squeeze with the bases loaded. But Matt Olson picked up the bunt attempt barehanded and flipped it to catcher Sean Murphy, who easily tagged out Tom Murphy. It was the 12th shutout of the year for the A’s.

Seattle’s Marco Gonzales (16-13) took the loss despite a strong outing in chilly, windy conditions. Gonzales struck out four and walked three, giving up just five hits in the seven-inning outing.

Gonzales’ only mistake was leaving a 3-2 sinker up in the zone for Laureano, who sent it out of the park in left field for his 24th home run in the third inning.

“It comes down to one swing and theirs went over the fence,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said.

Oakland Seattle

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Semien ss 3 0 0 0 Long 2b 4 0 0 0

Laureano rf 4 1 1 1 Crawford ss 4 0 0 0

Chapman 3b 4 0 1 0 Nola 1b 4 0 0 0

Olson 1b 4 0 0 0 Seager 3b 4 0 1 0

Canha cf 3 0 1 0 Lewis rf 4 0 0 0

Davis dh 3 0 2 0 T.Murphy c 4 0 2 0

Pinder lf 2 0 1 0 Gordon pr 0 0 0 0

Grossman lf 0 0 0 0 Santana dh 1 0 0 0

Brown ph-lf 1 0 0 0 Narvaez ph-dh 1 0 1 0

S.Murphy c 4 0 0 0 Broxton pr-dh 0 0 0 0

Neuse 2b 3 0 0 0 Moore ph-dh 0 0 0 0

Lopes lf 4 0 1 0

Smith cf 3 0 1 0

Totals 31 1 6 1 Totals 33 0 6 0

Oakland 001 000 000 — 1

Seattle 000 000 000 — 0

DP—Oakland 0, Seattle 2. LOB—Oakland 7, Seattle 8. 2B—Pinder (21). HR—Laureano (24). SB—Smith (46), Canha (3).

IP H R ER BB SO

Oakland

Anderson W,13-9 5 3 0 0 1 3

Petit H,29 12/3 0 0 0 0 0

Diekman H,131/3 2 0 0 0 0

Luzardo S,2-2 2 1 0 0 0 3

Seattle

Gonzales L,16-13 7 5 1 1 3 4

Tuivailala 1 0 0 0 0 1

Guilbeau 1/3 0 0 0 0 1

Magill 2/3 1 0 0 1 2

HBP—Luzardo (Moore). WP_Luzardo.

Umpires—Home, Ryan Blakney; First, Marvin Hudson; Second, Angel Hernandez; Third, Chad Fairchild.

T—2:41. A—26,401 (47,943).