SEATTLE.- The Seattle Mariners of the MLB fired manager Scott Servais on Thursday, according to reports, as the team has collapsed over the past two months, losing a 10-game lead in the division lead and slipping away from the final playoff berths in the American League.
The Athletic reported the Mariners’ decision, citing unnamed sources. The report said catcher Dan Wilson will take his place.
The decision to move on from Servais after nine seasons in charge comes after a disastrous 1-8 road series. The Mariners fell to 64-64 after being as many as 13 games above .500 in mid-June.
The Mariners are five games behind Houston in the AL West and 7 1/2 games into the wild-card race. But the way Seattle has played since leading the division by 10 games on June 18 is discouraging, and it doesn’t appear they can turn things around with five weeks left in the regular season.
Servais came to Seattle before the 2016 season alongside vice president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto. Servais went 680-642 with Seattle after beginning a rebuild following a few seasons in which he led the team to improvement, but not enough.
Judge remains unstoppable
Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 48th homer and Gerrit Cole allowed one hit in six innings to become the fourth active pitcher to reach 150 wins in the New York Yankees’ 6-0 shutout of the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday.
Judge homered for the third straight game and could finish the regular season with 61 homers after reaching 62 two years ago to surpass Roger Maris’ American League record.
The outfielder hit his latest homer off a changeup from Cleveland starter Gavin Williams (2-6) that sailed into the right-field seats. The 360-foot rocket marked the third time Judge has homered in three straight games this season.
