Struggling Reds Dismiss Miley, Promote Narron

The last-place Cincinnati Reds fired Manager Dave Miley on Tuesday and promoted bench coach Jerry Narron to finish the season.

“We were not doing the things you’ve got to do every day,” General Manager Dan O’Brien said. “We saw that things were not going to change.”

At 27-43, the Reds were 18 1/2 games behind St. Louis in the NL Central. Cincinnati lost, 6-1, at home to St. Louis on Monday night in Miley’s last game.

“We had huge expectations coming into the season, and we did not live up to them,” Narron said.

Pitching coach Don Gullett also was fired. Vern Ruhle, the Reds’ minor league pitching coordinator, will handle the job for the remainder of the season.

Miley and Gullett were not available for comment. O’Brien called it a “sensitive and emotional” meeting with Miley -- too sensitive to bring up whether Miley would be offered another job in the Reds’ system.

Miley spent 26 seasons in the Reds’ organization as a player, coach and manager. O’Brien said he expected Narron, a former manager in Texas, to be a tougher disciplinarian than Miley.

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The Texas Rangers released right-hander Pedro Astacio four days after designating the 14-year veteran for assignment.

Astacio, 35, was one of two starters the Rangers deleted from their rotation this month. Ryan Drese was designated for assignment on June 8 and was claimed two days later by the Washington Nationals.

Astacio was 2-8 with a 6.04 earned-run average in 12 starts for Texas. He had lost seven of his last eight decisions before the team cut him loose and replaced him in the rotation with left-hander C.J. Wilson.

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Philadelphia right-handed pitcher Vicente Padilla will miss tonight’s game because of a strained muscle in his neck.... The Chicago Cubs recalled pitcher Jerome Williams from triple-A Iowa and sent left-hander Cliff Bartosh to Iowa.... The New York Yankees recalled reliever Scott Proctor from triple-A Columbus and optioned outfielder Bubba Crosby to Columbus.