There were all sorts of reasons that facing the Oakland Athletics in his final start of the season wasn’t a good omen for Jason Vargas – and then they scored in the first inning to go ahead, 1-0.
But Vargas, who began the night 0-3 in four previous 2011 games against Oakland, just kept pitching.
In the first game of their last three-game series of the season, the Seattle Mariners used a Miguel Olivo home run to tie it in the fifth inning, then Justin Smoak’s three-run home run in the sixth to beat Oakland, 4-2.
For Vargas, it was a landmark.
With eight innings, he passed the 200-inning plateau for the first time in his career, finishing the season with 201 innings pitched.
With 10 strikeouts, he established a single-game career best.
And with the win, he got the 10th victory – a number that eluded him over his final eight starts in 2010.
Not a bad night’s work.
“I thought early on we had some better swings, but he got better as the night went on,” Athletics manager Bob Melvin said. “He actually threw a few more fastballs than you usually see out of him.”
Mariners manager Eric Wedge agreed.
“I thought he was as strong today as he’s been. He did a much better job with the fastball,” Wedge said. “He’s had a better fastball the last five or six starts. He threw some good change-ups and mixed his breaking ball in nice.
“He did a lot of good things tonight.”
The win, the third in a row for Vargas, coincided with the subtle change in his delivery Vargas made this month – adding a Felix Hernandez-like turn away from the batter before throwing a pitch.
Not as exaggerated as Felix’s turn, it has nonetheless changed Vargas on the mound, and whether that’s all physical or mostly mental doesn’t matter.
Since incorporating the turn, Vargas has been touching 90 mph with a fastball more often seen in the high 80s, and it seems to have sharpened his breaking ball and made his change-up more difficult to pick up.
As Jamie Moyer used to say, “Not every pitch is a good one, but they’re all better if you absolutely believe in them.”
Vargas believes – and he’s a better pitcher for it.
“I made a little mechanical change,” Varas said. “I stay over the rubber a little longer now, and it seems to have helped my fastball.”
Getting four runs behind him didn’t hurt, either.
Down 1-0 after a first inning in which Jemile Weeks doubled and Hideki Matsui singled him home, Vargas didn’t allow another run. Oakland’s Brandon McCarthy couldn’t match that.
One out into the fifth inning, Olivo homered to tie the game – and break another tie of sorts.
The home run was his 19th of the year, establishing a club record for a catcher in a single season – inching ahead of Dan Wilson (1996) and Kenji Johjima (2006), who each had 18 homers.
With two outs in the sixth inning, Seattle came alive.
Dustin Ackley singled to get the inning to Mike Carp, who singled to get it to Smoak – and Smoak homered to put the Athletics behind, 4-1.
It was his 15th of the year, and a big one for his team.
“Especially after the first couple of at-bats I had,” Smoak said. “I finally had guys on base and was able to put a good swing on it. I was pulling off the ball a little bit. (McCarthy) was trying to throw sinkers away and come in and brush me back.”
And on the home run? McCarthy tried to come inside again.
“I was able to stay on one finally,” Smoak said.
Brandon League picked up his 37th save, trading a ninth-inning run for it. That thrust the first-year closer into a tie for the fourth-highest single-season save total in franchise history.
The numbers Monday, however, belonged to Vargas. How much did the 10th win and 200th inning mean to him?
“I’ve never had either before,” he said, beaming. “The 200 innings is what every starting pitcher shoots for. The 10 wins for me? It is what it is.”
The win was No. 67 for Seattle, or six more than the Mariners finished with in 2010. With two games remaining, the team wants only to finish well.
“You always want to finish strong, to have something to look forward to going into the offseason, knowing what you need to work on, knowing what felt right at the end of the year,” Smoak said.
“I hope one day I can look back and say (2011) was a good learning experience for me. I hope there’s a lot of success to come.”
It’s a sentiment he shares with quite a few of his teammates.
larry.larue@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/mariners
TODAY
Oakland (Trevor Cahill: 11-14, 4.31 ERA) at Seattle (Blake Beavan: 5-5, 3.83), 7:10 p.m., Root Sports, 710-AM
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