Vargas wins for Seattle for first time in month

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Jason Vargas already had an efficient night - and his job became that much easier as his defense turned double plays to shorten his outing.

Vargas pitched a seven-hitter to win for the first time in more than a month, and the Seattle Mariners snapped Oakland's five-game winning streak with a 7-1 victory against the Athletics on Saturday night.

Kyle Seager hit a bases-loaded double to drive in three, Brendan Ryan added a two-RBI double in the second and Ichiro Suzuki singled up the middle in the fifth to end a career-worst 0-for-23 hitless stretch as the Mariners scored their most runs since a 14-10 loss at Arizona on June 20.

"Tonight, that's what we're looking for if anybody was wondering," manager Eric Wedge said. "That's a complete ballgame."

Vargas tossed his sixth career complete game and first since July 6 last year at Oakland. He struck out six and walked one in a 107-pitch gem that featured the club record-matching four double plays.

All the scoring meant a lot, too.

"That's always great when we can put up multiple runs an inning," Vargas said. "That's huge for us. Our pitching staff can pitch with a lead."

Casper Wells homered to help Vargas (8-7) end a five-start winless stretch in which he went 0-3 since a win at Anaheim on June 4.

Vargas allowed his majors-high 23rd home run to Josh Reddick in the first, but during one stretch late in the game retired 13 straight. Reddick became the first A's player since Nick Swisher in 2006 to hit 20 home runs before the All-Star break.

Reddick also ran from right field into center to make a diving catch and rob Suzuki of a hit leading off the third.

"He belongs and I think he believes that he is one of the elite right fielders in the league," A's manager Bob Melvin said.

Seattle took a 1-0 lead in the first when John Jaso singled and center fielder Coco Crisp appeared to lose the ball in the sun for a two-base error, allowing Michael Saunders to score.

Reddick's homer in the bottom half gave the A's a longball in 17 straight games, their most since also doing so in 2002. They haven't gone more than 17 games in a row with a homer since a pair of 18-game stretches in 1999.

Seattle's offense bounced back against Oakland starter Jarrod Parker (5-4) a day after the A's won 4-1 in 11 innings Friday night on Chris Carter 's game-ending three-run homer.

"A game we should win, a game we did win and we've got a chance to win the series," Ryan said. "It seems like there was a little more energy."

Parker was tagged for six hits and six runs - five earned - in 4 2-3 innings to have his three-game winning streak snapped. The right-hander, who beat the Mariners at Safeco Field on June 27 striking out a career-high nine, struck out six and walked two. Parker had allowed one or fewer runs in each of his previous four starts.

A's cleanup hitter Yoenis Cespedes went 0 for 3 with a walk and is just 1 for 19 on the homestand, though lately has looked fully healthy from a strained left hamstring that sidelined him for nine games in a 10-game stretch last month.

Suzuki, who'd been mired in a 0-for-23 funk since a seventh-inning single June 30 against Boston, also singled in the seventh after starting a game batting second for the first time in his career as Wedge tried to get him going. After his single in the fifth, Suzuki stole his 12th base.

It was just the third time in Suzuki's career he had a hitless streak of 20 games or longer and topped a 0-for-22 slump from July 30-Aug. 5, 2005.

Wedge plans to keep Dustin Ackley in the leadoff spot and Suzuki second again Sunday.

"I don't want to just cruise into the break not trying to do everything we can do," Wedge said. "It's one helluva frustrating process to sit down and put a lineup together right now because people aren't doing their job. After a while, you've got to get tired of getting your teeth kicked in."

There was a brief delay in the middle of the seventh when an advertising sign behind home plate got stuck on white.

Notes: Seattle CF Franklin Gutierrez , on the seven-day concussion list since June 29, isn't likely to return until after the All-Star break and is expected to play a couple of rehab games first. ... Suzuki was 2 for 4 lifetime batting in the No. 2 hole, both as a pinch-hitter when he then stayed in the game. He did so during his AL Rookie of the Year and AL MVP 2001 season and again in 2002, both at Texas. ... Mariners C Jesus Montero , recovering from a mild concussion after taking a foul ball from Baltimore's Robert Andino off the facemask Wednesday, took part in baseball activities and still hoped to play Sunday's series finale. Wedge said he won't catch yet but could DH. ... The A's rotation for their three-game series at Minnesota after the All-Star break: A.J. Griffin, Tommy Milone , Parker. ... Oakland opening day starter Brandon McCarthy , on the DL for a second time with a strained throwing shoulder, has played catch for two straight days. "That's a good sign," Melvin said. ... Sunday's game is "Turn Back the Clock" at the Oakland Coliseum, with the A's set to wear 1955 Oakland Oaks uniforms, while the Mariners will be the Seattle Rainiers.

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