M's sweep A's, brace themselves for the mighty Royals

The schedule has become the Mariners' friend. After coming back from their last road trip to Detroit and Cleveland with a 2-4 record, giving them seven losses in their last 10 games, the M's had dropped to 63-61 and were reeling. With a bad homestand, they could have dropped under .500. In the worst-case scenario, if the A's had swept them, Oakland would have crept within 4 1/2 games of third place, and the Mariners would have even had to start worrying about holding off the A's. Forget about that. The M's are back to a more comfortable five games over .500 and 10 1/2 ahead of Oakland. The A's are in last place for a reason -- namely, a weak offense, and a promising but raw pitching staff. The Mariners exploited both in pulling off a sweep that they completed tonight with a 5-3 win. And now here come four games with the Royals, the worst team in the American League at 48-78. KC-based Joe Posnanski calls this the worst Royals team he's ever seen, and Pos ...