Astros fire Garner, GM
Less than two years ago, the Houston Astros were celebrating their first National League pennant. On Monday, they were starting over.
Manager Phil Garner and general manager Tim Purpura were fired by owner Drayton McLane, who said the franchise “needed a fresh start” after a plunge to the bottom of the Central.
Bench coach Cecil Cooper was appointed interim manager, and team president Tal Smith will serve as interim general manager.
“I felt for a number of reasons, we needed new direction, invigoration, to play with more enthusiasm and play more like a champion,” McLane said.
The Astros slumped to 58-73 this year, nine games behind the division-leading Chicago Cubs. They’ve lost five of their last seven home games, to lowly Washington and Pittsburgh.
“We were never able to put together the run, like we made in the previous two seasons,” said Garner. “I think there were a number of reasons for that.”
Sosa will return
Even though he has become a part-time player for the Texas Rangers since joining the 600-homer club, Sammy Sosa still plans for his comeback to be longer than one season.
“If it’s not here, it will be somewhere else, believe me,” said Sosa, who has started only 10 of the Rangers’ last 26 games. “I feel great. Definitely, I want to play another year.”
Clearing the bases
One month after having hand surgery, Chase Utley was back in the Phillies’ lineup for the start of a pivotal four-game series against the N.L. East-leading New York Mets in Philadelphia. … Florida Marlins infielder Aaron Boone said he’ll undergo arthroscopic knee surgery and miss the rest of the season. Boone has been on the disabled list since June 25. Surgery is scheduled for Sept. 4, the Marlins said. … Mike Port, major league baseball’s vice president of umpiring, said the game between the Tigers and Yankees was started at 11:06 p.m. Friday following a 4-hour rain delay based on an e-mail he sent earlier in the week. “The message from here on out to the umpires is to please make every effort to get all the games in because there are no guarantees of what future weather is going to be,” Port said