Vargas outduels former college teammate Weaver

SEATTLE - 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.

Seattle center fielder Franklin Gutierrez made his season debut after missing the first 41 games with stomach issues. Gutierrez went 0 for 4.