Blue Jays dismiss manager Montoyo

The Toronto Blue Jays fired manager Charlie Montoyo on Wednesday and promoted bench coach and former minor league manager John Schneider to interim manager for the remainder of the season.

General manager Ross Atkins made the move even with the Blue Jays at 46-42 this season. They held the AL’S final wildcard slot when the day began but were in fourth place in the AL East.

Triple-a manager Casey Candaele was named interim bench coach.

“I truly wanted this to work with Charlie and wasn’t able to make that happen,” Atkins said before the Blue Jays hosted Philadelphia. “I’m extremely disappointed in where we are. I think we’re better than how we’ve played.”

Toronto beat the Phillies 4-3 on Tuesday to snap a four-game losing streak.

The Blue Jays entered Wednesday 3-9 in July. They went 1-6 on a road trip against Oakland, which has the worst record in the majors, and Seattle that ended Sunday with the Mariners completing a four-game sweep.

The 13th manager in Blue Jays history, and the first from Puerto Rico, Montoyo went 236-236 in parts of four seasons.

Montoyo led Toronto to a 32-28 record and a wildcard playoff berth in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The Blue Jays went 91-71 in 2021 and missed tying for the AL wild card by one game.

Mariners rookie Rodriguez in Derby

Seattle Mariners rookie sensation Julio Rodriguez will participate in Monday’s Home Run Derby at Dodger Stadium.

Rodriguez, 21, leads all major league rookies with 15 home runs.

The other players to commit to the Derby are twotime defending champion Pete Alonso of the Mets, Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Braves, Albert Pujols of the Cardinals, Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies and Juan Soto of the Nationals.

There are two spots remaining to be filled.

Ten Royals players to miss Toronto series

The Kansas City Royals will be without 10 of the 26 players on their active roster for their four-game series starting tonight in Toronto due to Canadian restrictions on travelers who aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19.

The club will be without hitters Andrew Benintendi, Hunder Dozier, Cam Gallagher, Kyle Isbel, MJ Melendez, Whit Merrifield and Michael A. Taylor along with pitchers Dylan Coleman, Brad Keller and Brady Singer.

The 10 players will be placed on the restricted list and forfeit four days of pay and major league service time.