Mariners fire manager amid slide out of the playoff picture

On July 1, the Seattle Mariners sat atop the American League West at 47-39 and had a three-game lead over the Houston Astros. Since then, they have gone 17-25, falling five games behind the Astros, and 7.5 games out of a wild-card spot in the American League. 

Thursday the team made a major change. MLB insider Ken Rosenthal announced that the Mariners would be firing manager Scott Servais with former Seattle catcher Dan Wilson…