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Vargas tries to end Mariners' slide in Toronto

Jul 20, 2011 - 2:35 PM (Sports Network) - Lefty Jason Vargas becomes the latest Seattle pitcher to try to end the team's slide this evening when the Mariners visit Rogers Centre for the middle test of a three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Seattle swan dive reached 10 Tuesday night, when Rajai Davis stole two bases and scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly in the 14th inning, lifting the Blue Jays to a 6-5 victory.

In the decisive inning, Davis singled with one out and was an immediate disruption to Jamey Wright (2-3) with John McDonald at bat. The Seattle reliever made four throws to first base before Davis swiped second.

Wright nearly had Davis picked off that base on a head-first slide, but Davis was called safe on a dive back to the bag. Davis then stole third, and scored easily when McDonald hit a fly ball to center on the sixth pitch of the plate appearance, giving Toronto the win.

Casey Janssen (3-0), who was brought off the disabled list Tuesday, pitched a scoreless top of the 14th to get the win as the Blue Jays snapped a two-game slide.

Seattle started a nine-game road trip but couldn't end its losing streak - the club's longest since dropping 12 in a row during 2008.

Vargas was a complete-game winner on July 1 against San Diego, allowing just six hits and striking out seven in a 6-0 defeat of the Padres. He has completed a career-high four games this season, three for shutouts.

He's 0-2 in two starts since, allowing seven runs and 17 hits in 14 innings while getting zero run support on 2-0 and 5-0 losses to the Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers.

Vargas went 6 2/3 innings against the Blue Jays on April 13 in Seattle, getting a no-decision in an 8-3 loss.

For the Blue Jays, righty Brandon Morrow aims for a seventh straight start without a loss.

The former first-round pick of the Mariners - fifth overall, 2006 - has never faced his former team, for whom he debuted in 2007 and went 8-12 with 22 saves over 131 appearances through 2009.

He was chased after just 4 1/3 innings after surrendering nine runs and 10 hits in a 16-4 loss to Boston on June 11, but has since gone 4-0 in six outings while trimming his earned run average from 5.63 to 4.37.

Morrow is 2-4 in eight home starts in 2011.

Seattle won two of three matchups with Toronto from April 11-13 this season at Safeco Field.