Before the game, Mariners ace Felix Hernandez promised his counterpart, Rockies top hurler Ubaldo Jimenez, he wouldn’t throw anything too unhittable when Jimenez was at the plate. Jimenez readily agreed.

Yet they struck each other out in Colorado’s 5-4 win over the Mariners on Sunday.

Washington will play No. 6 Marquette on Thursday in San Jose.

After playing on the bubble for weeks, Washington came away with an automatic bid after winning the Pac-10 tournament on Saturday afternoon by beating Cal 79-75.

Anthony Barravecchio, an officer on the force in the Pittsburgh suburb of Coraopolis, and Pennsylvania Trooper Ed Joyner were among about eight people with Roethlisberger celebrating his birthday at the club, attorney Michael Santicola said. Santicola said the men were there because they are friends of the two-time Super Bowl winner.

“They were not there in their official capacity,” said Santicola, who represents Barravecchio but said Joyner is also a longtime friend.

Police are investigating the 20-year-old college student’s claim that Roethlisberger sexually assaulted her early last Friday at the club in Milledgeville, Ga. Roethlisberger has not been charged, and his attorney disputes the woman’s claim.

Santicola, who’s based in western Pennsylvania, said both of the law enforcement officers who were with Roethlisberger are cooperating fully with the investigation, but say they saw nothing inappropriate.

Sound nuts? Not yet — brake pads made from cashews are still under development.

Meet Lola, the England’s University of Warwick’s blend of muscle and eco-friendliness and the world’s first racing car retrofitted with renewable and sustainable materials.

Researchers from the British university showed off their prize possession at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) energy conference in Boston.

“She’s incredibly green, taking materials that would otherwise have ended up in a landfill. It lets people engage with recycling without the finger-wagging,” said Kerry Kirwan, one of the car’s designers at the university.

“The public has really taken the car to its heart, because she’s fun,” he said.

Many of the car’s components would more usually be found at a farmer’s market — or in a trash bin, since most of the materials are actually industrial waste.

The cable TV network’s division, ESPN Films, said it signed De Niro to portray Lombardi as he took the Green Bay Packers from worst to first in the National Football League.

Eric Roth (“Forrest Gump”) has been hired to work on a screenplay starting in 1959 when Lombardi was given his first chance to be an NFL coach by taking over the lowly Packers.

Over the years, the coach’s hard-nosed approach helped lead the team to three straight NFL championships and victories in the first two Super Bowls. The Packers dominated football throughout much of 1960s.

Lombardi died in 1970 at age 57, and since 1971, the trophy awarded to the Super Bowl winner has been named the Vince Lombardi Trophy.