Struggling Blue Jays Fire Manager

The Toronto Blue Jays fired Manager Carlos Tosca on Sunday, replacing him with first base coach John Gibbons, who will manage on an interim basis.

Tosca is the third major league manager to be fired this season, joining Houston’s Jimy Williams and Arizona’s Bob Brenly.

“We have six or seven weeks left in the season, and the team showed signs of not playing hard,” said Toronto General Manager J.P. Ricciardi, who hired Tosca on June 3, 2002. “We have an obligation to try and do as well as we can. It wasn’t an easy decision. It never is when you have to tell someone who does what he loves that it’s being taken away from him.”

Tosca was told of the decision after an 8-2 loss to the Yankees dropped the Blue Jays to 47-64, a season-high 17 games under .500 and 24 1/2 games behind first-place New York. Toronto is 18-37 on the road and in the middle of a seven-day, seven-game trip.

Tosca, 50, was the fifth native of Cuba to manage in the major leagues. He had been the team’s third-base coach before becoming the sixth major league manager without playing experience. He finished with a 189-191 record in a little more than two seasons.

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Colorado pitcher Aaron Cook has blood clots in both lungs and will sit out the rest of the season. Manager Clint Hurdle said the condition is not life-threatening and the 25-year-old right-hander is being treated with blood thinners.

“It’s a six-month process, which will shut him down for the rest of the season,” Hurdle said.

Cook (6-4) has a 4.28 earned-run average in 16 starts. He was put on the 15-day disabled list, and the Rockies recalled left-hander Javier Lopez from triple-A Colorado Springs.

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St. Louis Cardinal outfielder Ray Lankford was not with the team on Sunday while mulling whether to accept an option to the minor leagues or be released. Lankford had been due to come off the 15-day DL from a wrist injury, but the team does not need him after acquiring Larry Walker from the Colorado Rockies.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks optioned left-hander Randy Choate to triple A and recalled left-hander Shane Nance from Tucson.