Astros fire Garner, Purpura

Manager Phil Garner and General Manager Tim Purpura were fired Monday by Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane, who said the franchise “needed a fresh start” after a plunge to the bottom of the National League Central.

Bench coach Cecil Cooper was appointed interim manager and team President Tal Smith will serve as interim general manager.

“I felt for a number of reasons, we needed new direction, invigoration, to play with more enthusiasm and play more like a champion,” McLane said.

The Astros (58-73) are nine games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs.

“We had really fallen into a pattern of so-so ball,” Garner told the Associated Press. “We were never able to put together the run, like we made in the previous two seasons. I think there were a number of reasons for that.”

Cooper, 57, a five-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner, was the bench coach in Milwaukee in 2002 and managed triple-A Indianapolis in 2003 and 2004.

“It really was a shock to me,” Cooper said. “I kind of got a little emotional, but I’m also excited about the opportunity. I’ve been to the World Series as a player and a coach. Now, I want to try it as a manager.”

Garner took over the Astros in the middle of the 2004 season and guided them to the NL wild-card berth; they then defeated Atlanta in the first round of the playoffs before losing to St. Louis in Game 7 of the NL championship series.

Houston earned the wild-card berth in 2005 and beat Atlanta and St. Louis in the playoffs before being swept by the Chicago White Sox in the World Series.

Garner managed Milwaukee from 1992 to 1999 and Detroit from 2000 to 2002. He has a 985-1,054 record as a manager, including 277-252 with the Astros.

Gary Sheffield was put on the 15-day disabled list by the Detroit Tigers because of a sore shoulder. . . . San Francisco Giants right-hander Vinnie Chulk went on the 15-day disabled list because of a blood clot in his right hand.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are planning to install after the season a high-definition scoreboard that will be 900 square feet larger than the biggest existing board, at Atlanta’s Turner Field.