Mariners fire manager Scott Servais amid AL West slide - ESPN

The Seattle Mariners, in desperate need of a spark with their season slipping away, fired longtime manager Scott Servais on Thursday. Dan Wilson, the longtime Mariners catcher who had been serving as a coordinator in the organization's minor league system, will replace him.

The decision was made by Servais' longtime friend, Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto, in the wake of a three-game sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers, giving the team eight losses in a span of nine games. The Mariners held a 10-game lead in the American League West as recently as June 18 and has since gone 20-33, falling five games back of the Houston Astros with only 34 games remaining.

«Where we were in the middle of June and where we are today — it's hard to believe, actually, how quickly it all dissolved for us,» Dipoto said on a videoconference.

The Mariners also let go of hitting coach Jarret DeHart, whose firing comes less than three months after the dismissal of offensive coordinator Brant Brown. The Mariners, bolstered by a dynamic starting rotation, lead the majors in ERA but rank dead last in batting average. Their .666 OPS over these last 53 games ranks lower than every team except the lowly Miami Marlins and Chicago White Sox.

«Collectively, we determined that our organization needed this,» Dipoto said. «We needed to do something to create a different theme, a different vibe in our clubhouse. I'm not trying to throw Scott under a bus at all here. I can't say enough positive things about the things he did in contributing here, but I do think we needed a new voice.»

Servais, 57, came over from the Los Angeles Angels alongside Dipoto and general manager Justin Hollander following the 2015 season, inheriting a