"Jason Vargas had accomplished everything he needed to in his start against the Phillies. What he wanted most was to finish the game.

Vargas, left in to close out the ninth inning, tossed a three-hitter for his second shutout of the season, outdueling Cole Hamels while leading the Seattle Mariners to a 2-0 victory Sunday.

Vargas (5-4) not only kept pace with Hamels, he exceeded and outlasted him in his third career complete game. He allowed just two singles and six baserunners. After a two-out walk to Carlos Ruiz in the fourth, he retired the next 15 batters until Ryan Howard's two-out single in the ninth brought up Ben Francisco as the potential tying run.

That's when manager Eric Wedge, with closer Brandon League ready in the bullpen, came out for a visit.

"We had Leaguer ready for that matchup," Wedge said. "I had a pretty good idea what to do but I wanted to look him in his eyes as well. It was his ballgame."

Even though Vargas was approaching what would be a season-high 119 pitches, Wedge stayed with him.

"It's the first time I've had a manager in the ninth leave me in," Vargas said. "It's nice he has that confidence in me."

Vargas retired Francisco on a fly to center as the Mariners took two of three from the Phillies.

"For Wedgie to come out there with those crazy eyes and say, 'I'm sticking with you, let's get this done' -- awesome," shortstop Brendan Ryan said. "That's great stuff from the manager."

Howard said Vargas "mixed it up well. He didn't necessarily have to throw stuff for strikes. He threw enough for strikes to where it got us a bit out of our element. Guys were out in front of pitches.""