Carlos Vargas News: Nabs rare save

Vargas allowed two hits and struck out two in a scoreless inning to earn the save in Tuesday's 5-3 win over the Athletics.

The Mariners likely wanted to avoid turning to regular closer Andres Munoz after his 28-pitch outing Monday. Vargas had 34 pitches in Monday's game, but he had not pitched for five days before that appearance, and he was able to get the job done. Vargas has a 2.60 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and 12:5 K:BB over 17.1 innings this season. He's not an established reliever in the majors yet, but the Mariners have given him some high-leverage looks. Vargas has earned four holds, a 1-1 record and a blown save over 13 appearances, though he's not a serious threat to Munoz's status as the closer.