SEATTLE -- The look on Lou Piniella's face told the whole story. A relaxed smile and cool confidence permeated the room.

Piniella had just managed the Seattle Mariners to a stunning three-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox in the American League division series, and he wasn't about to gloat about knocking out the team with the best record in the AL this season. Oh, he had plenty of reason to. Friday's 2-1 victory -- clinched when Carlos Guillen pushed a bunt through the draw-in infield to score Rickey Henderson in the bottom of the ninth inning -- was a microcosm of the series and the season for the Mariners.

Alex Rodriguez collides with Frank Thomas as he attempts to complete a first-inning double play.(AP)

Piniella worked right-hander Aaron Sele into the final game of the regular season against Anaheim to get the Mariners into the playoffs, then had Sele ready for the decisive game Friday. And Sele responded by allowing just three hits and one run in 7 1/3 innings, with Arthur Rhodes and Jose Paniagua mopping up. The three outdueled the Sox and James Baldwin, who overcame a shoulder problem to pitch six innings of three-hit ball, allowing just one run.

Every button Piniella pushed in the series worked. It all began with the bullpen of Rhodes, Paniagua, Kazuhiro Sasaki and Brett Tomko, which shut down the Sox with 11 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out 12 and allowing just three hits and six walks.

"When the manager pushes the right buttons," Piniella said. "it's only because the players execute ... believe me. They just played great today and have played this way the whole series."

If not the whole season. Sele, no question, was brilliant on this day. But a lot of it had to do with the defense, too. Just as Piniella was about to be second-guessed for yanking Sele a bit too soon in the eighth inning, Rhodes coaxed pinch-hitter Paul Konerko into a broken-bat grounder to McLemore at second. He tagged pinch-runner Tony Graffanino and fired to John Olerud for the third double play turned by the magnificent Seattle defense.

"That's what this team is all about," Rhodes said. "We were built for the postseason. Everybody has a job to do. When Lou puts me in, I get people out. When he pulls me, I know whoever follows me will do the same thing. This whole team has confidence in each other and it makes it easier for the individuals."

The game-winning run was set up when Olerud's smash leading off the ninth struck left-hander Kelly Wunsch in the sternum. He quickly came off the mound and hurried the throw, which ended up rolling beyond the right-field line. Olerud conceded he hadn't had much luck of Wunsch in the past and was just trying to hit the ball hard up the middle. Once it caromed off Wunsch's chest, Olerud figured there was the possibility of an extra base.

"I knew it was going to be a tough play and there was a good chance he would throw it away," Olerud said. "This was our kind of game. We knew if we could squeeze out a couple of runs, it would be enough the way the pitching has been and the defense."

Henderson ran for Olerud, and Stan Javier immediately sacrificed him to third after Keith Foulke replaced the Wunsch, who was doubled-over with pain after the throw. Foulke walked David Bell, bringing up Guillen, who had not played in the series. Another brilliant button pushed by Piniella.

Guillen took one look at the drawn-in defense, with lumbering Frank Thomas at first base and just one out, and he knew what to do ... drag a bunt hard. It worked like a charm.

"I was waiting for my chance," Guillen said. "I see Frank Thomas there and know he doesn't play much first base. If I hit it hard, I know that Rickey will score. I knew as soon as I hit it, it was going through. This is what I dream about."

The Safeco Field record crowd of 48,010 erupted, and shortly thereafter champagne flowed in the clubhouse. It was the only thing that leaked all day for the Mariners.

There was good reason why Sele and his successors were so effective. Olerud was a veritable vacuum at first base, with McLemore, Bell and Alex Rodriguez sealing off the rest of the infield in the same exceptional fashion.

"Look, this team was built for Safeco Field," Rodriguez said. "Carlos made the call on that bunt by himself. I tried to do the same thing in the fourth inning (it ended up being A-Rod's first sacrifice of the season and moved along Raul Ibanez, who ended up scoring the Mariners first run on an infield hit by McLemore). The whole series has been like this, one or two-run leads. Little things have been the difference for all us all year."

And that's what Piniella was counting on, and why Seattle had the best home record in the American League during the regular season at 47-34. You want team ball? The Mariners won the series by scoring all of 14 runs, and nine different players had RBI, topped off with Guillen knocking in the final run in the only postseason at-bat of his brief career. There was only one error, catcher Dan Wilson's errant throw on a stolen base in Game 2, and Mariners held the powerful White Sox to just seven runs in the series.

Indeed, the Mariners have been emblematic of the type of ball, based on speed, defense and pitching, that Piniella managed in Cincinnati when the Reds upset Oakland with a sweep in the 1990 World Series. The Mariners are indeed a far cry from the home run kings in the Kingdome with Rodriguez, Jay Buhner and Ken Griffey Jr. of seasons gone by.

"This is the way winning baseball is played," Piniella said. "Sure, you have to have clutch hits, and it helps to have home runs. But if you get pitching and play great defense, then you can manufacture enough runs to win. We just have to keep it going."

The New York Yankees or Oakland A's in the AL Championship Series?

"Really, it doesn't matter," McLemore added. "It's all about the way we play, and right now, I sure like the way we're playing."