Seattle Mariners fire manager McLaren

Seattle Mariners manager John McLaren (R) argues after he was ejected by home plate umpire Mike DiMuro (16) for complaining about a strikeout call on Mariners batter Ichiro Suzuki in the second inning of their MLB American League baseball game with the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York, May 23, 2008.

SEATTLE (Reuters) - The Seattle Mariners fired manager John McLaren on Thursday, the latest management change for the team with Major League Baseball's worst record.

The Mariners said bench coach Jim Riggleman would serve as manager for the rest of the season. McLaren's dismissal comes three days after the team fired general manager Bill Bavasi and replaced him with Lee Pelekoudas.

"John worked extremely hard but our team continued to underperform compared to our expectations of them," Pelekoudas said. "I wanted to see if a different voice could make a difference in their performance."

McLaren took over in the middle of the 2007 season when then manager Mike Hargrove stepped down. He has compiled a 68-88 record over the two seasons.

Seattle has lost five of its last six games. The Mariners' 25-47 record, the worst in baseball, has upset fans who expected the team to contend for a playoff spot after it acquired pitcher Erik Bedard in the off season.

(Reporting by Daisuke Wakabayashi, editing by Clare Lovell)