[h3]Felix, League tabbed for AL All-Star squad[/h3]
SEATTLE -- Mariners ace Felix Hernandez and closer Brandon League were named to the American League All-Star team on Sunday, as announced on the MLB All-Star Selection Show presented by Taco Bell.
Hernandez won the AL Cy Young Award last season without making the All-Star team. This year, Hernandez earned an All-Star bid, but likely won't be able to pitch in the Midsummer Classic since he's scheduled to start for the Mariners next Sunday -- two days before the July 12 All-Star Game in Phoenix.
League earned his first All-Star berth, as he shares the AL lead in saves at 21 with the Yankees' Mariano Rivera heading into Sunday's games.
Hernandez has followed up on last year's Cy Young Award season with an 8-7 start and a 3.35 ERA. He ranks third in the AL with 129 innings pitched and 124 strikeouts, and he is once again the ace of a Mariners staff that has kept Seattle in contention in the AL West despite an offense that ranks at the bottom of the league in nearly every statistical category.
Hernandez pitched in the 2009 All-Star Game in St. Louis, but didn't get selected for the game last year.
Ichiro Suzuki saw his run of 10 straight All-Star selections come to an end when he was left off the AL team after the slowest first half of his Major League career. Ichiro, 37, is hitting .271 -- 60 points below his career .331 average.
Ichiro was the only Mariners player selected to the All-Star Game last year, and the club hasn't had more than two All-Stars in the same season since 2003, when five Seattle players were selected.
Congrats to Felix and League
Thought Pineda had a strongest case to be an All-Star this year
