The Weekend in Sportsball

An eye-opening weekend from your Mariners, who were just seven outs away from their first-ever sweep in Fenway Park. A bullpen collapse prevented that historic accomplishment, but with two wins at Boston--thanks to gritty pitching from Felix Hernandez and Garrett Olson--the M's completed their road trip at 5-4. Sound mediocre? Consider the competition: the Dodgers, Yankees and Red Sox, who have the three-best winning percentages in baseball.

No doubting it: The Seattle Mariners are legitimate pennant contenders. The Seattle Mariners are legitimate pennant contenders. THE SEATTLE MARINERS ARE LEGITIMATE PENNANT CONTENDERS!!! Sorry, we like writing that so much we had to do it thrice.

During Sunday's game, we found out that Hernandez and Ichiro were named to the AL All-Star team. Fans voted Ichiro a starter, it'll be Ich's ninth All-Star appearance, eighth as a starter. For Felix, it's his first. Former M's phenom Adam Jones will also make his first All-Star appearance. Former Mariners Raul Ibanez (starter) and Ryan Franklin were each named to the NL team, it's the first appearance for both players.

Neither the Storm nor the Sounders played, so we turn to Serbia for some Seattle-related sportsball news of a non-baseballic nature. Husky senior-to-be Quincy Pondexter, competing for Team USA in the World University Games in Belgrade, had a team-high 14 points in a win over South Korea. Team USA advances to the second round, they'll play Greece Monday.

Coming up: The Mariners [schedule/tix] host Baltimore and division-leading Texas this week. The Storm [schedule/tix] have a matinee game vs. San Antonio at KeyArena on Tuesday. The Sounders [schedule/tix] play a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal vs. Kansas City at Starfire in Tukwila Tuesday night.