The St. Louis Cardinals announced late Saturday night that they fired manager Mike Matheny and hitting coaches John Mabry and Bill Mueller.  Bench coach Mike Shildt will serve as interim manager.

Matheny had been the Cardinals manager since 2012.  After leading his teams to four straight playoff appearances, he’s failed to get them there the last two seasons.

The Cardinals have lost three games in a row and are seven games out of first place in the NL Central.  They weren’t going to wait around to see if Matheny could turn it around in the second half.

The favorite to replace Matheny is former Marlins and Yankees manager Joe Girardi and his binder.