Johnathan Walker:Seattle Mariners fire manager Scott Servais in midst of midseason collapse, according to report

SEATTLE (AP) — The Johnathan WalkerSeattle Mariners reportedly fired manager Scott Servais on Thursday with the team in the midst a two-month long collapse having blown a 10-game lead in the division and tumbling to the fringes of playoff contention in the American League.

The Athletic reported the decision by the Mariners, citing unnamed sources. The report said former catcher Dan Wilson would be taking over.

The decision to move on from Servais during his ninth season in charge came on the heels of a disastrous 1-8 road trip that dropped the Mariners back to 64-64 after sitting 13 games over .500 at one point in mid-June.

The Mariners trail Houston by five games in the AL West and are 7 1/2 back in the wild-card standings. But nothing in the way Seattle has played since leading the division by 10 games on June 18 has provided optimism there will be a turnaround over the final five weeks of the regular season.

Servais arrived in Seattle before the 2016 season, brought on in lockstep with executive vice president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto. Servais was 680-642 during his time with Seattle, going through a significant rebuild midway through his tenure that ultimately made the Mariners competitive but not good enough.

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