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Mariners Deny Weaver's 7th Win, Angels Fall 3-0

SEATTLE (AP) - Jason Vargas went seven innings and denied Jered Weaver another chance at becoming the first pitcher in the majors to reach seven wins, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-0 on Wednesday night.

The first of 19 meetings this season between the AL West rivals went the way of the Mariners, thanks to another gem from Vargas, who ran his streak of scoreless innings to 16. Vargas (3-2) threw nine shutout innings last week against Baltimore, then followed up by holding the Angels to four singles in seven innings.

Jack Cust had two RBI singles as his rebound from a miserable April continued and Justin Smoak added an RBI double.

After winning his first six starts, Weaver (6-4) dropped his fourth straight decision and remained tied for the league lead in victories. The Angels have lost six of seven.

The Angels threatened in the eighth after Vargas left. Jamey Wright allowed two walks and Alberto Callaspo's infield single to load the bases with two outs. He fell behind pinch-hitter Hank Conger 2-0 then got him looking at a 3-2 pitch on the inside corner.

Brandon League pitched the ninth for his 10th save in 13 chances and his first since blowing three games last week.

Weaver wasn't battered around by Seattle's bats. But Weaver couldn't match the zeros that his former Long Beach State teammate continues to post.

Vargas won his third straight decision that followed a streak of nine straight losses dating to last season. He's gotten better in each of his last four starts. When Vargas broke his losing streak on April 29 at Boston, he gave up four runs and eight hits. He followed up with a win over Texas where Vargas allowed one run and six hits.

Then came last week at Baltimore, when the lefty went nine innings for just the second time in his career, even though he didn't get a decision in the Mariners' extra-inning loss. He became the fourth pitcher in Seattle history to throw nine shutout innings and come away with a no-decision.

But Vargas didn't let his shutout streak end. He escaped a first-inning jam by striking out Howie Kendrick to end the threat with Erick Aybar on first. He again used the strikeout to wiggle free in the second, getting Peter Bourjos looking with Mark Trumbo at second. From there, Vargas didn't allow a runner past first, tying his career high with nine strikeouts, including one of Bobby Abreu to end the seventh. He allowed two walks and threw a season-high 115 pitches. In his last two starts, Vargas has allowed 11 singles, walked three and struck out 13.

Weaver sprinted to a 6-0 start to begin the season, then hit a wall of losses that continued Wednesday, although the Angels' struggling offense didn't help. Los Angeles has gone 21 innings without scoring.

Chone Figgins doubled with one out in the first and scored when Cust dumped a soft liner over the infield. In the third, Ichiro Suzuki reached on an infield single that bounced off the plate and scored on Smoak's double into the right field corner. Cust jumped on a 2-1 pitch and singled to center to score Smoak.

Weaver went six innings, giving up seven hits and struck out four.

NOTES: The Angels were shut out in consecutive games for the second time this season. Boston posted shutouts on April 23 and 24. ... Seattle CF Franklin Gutierrez made his season debut after missing the first 41 games with stomach issues. Gutierrez went 0 for 4. ... The Angels went 15-4 last season against Seattle.

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