Jason Vargas needed to bring his A game on Thursday against Derek Holland, but instead yielded five runs over six innings. Vargas surrendered an astounding 12 hits, as he fell to 6-7 on the season. His ERA and WHIP rose to 3.68 and 1.19, respectively.

The Mariners will start Jason Vargas, Doug Fister, Felix Hernandez, Blake Beavan and Michael Pineda in the first five games of the second half. King Felix is starting the third game back, of course, because he'll probably be used in Tuesday's All-Star game. Pineda, who was an All-Star snub, will pitch fifth as the Mariners try to keep his innings relatively in check, though they've said he won't have a strict innings cap.

Jason Vargas was a hard-luck loser after giving up two runs over eight innings Wednesday against the A's. Vargas was credited with his third complete game in four starts and fourth of the season He heads into the All-Star break 6-6 with a 3.49 ERA. The Mariners have scored a total of 10 runs in his six losses.

Jason Vargas hurled a complete game three-hitter against the Phillies Sunday to earn his fifth win. Remarkably, it's Vargas second shutout of the season as he also dominated the Rays just two weeks ago. Today, he struck out six and walked two while lowering his ERA to 3.75. Vargas has gone at least seven innings in each of his last four starts and gets a plus matchup in Florida next week. He's worth a spot start even though he's pitching over his head right now.