In a three-day span, the Mariners fired both general manager Bill Bavasi and manager John McLaren, with the latter being jettisoned Thursday. Seattle (25-47) has the worst record in the majors, is 17 1/2 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Angels in the AL West and teetering on the edge of a self-administered implosion as the new front office tries to identify around whom it can build for 2009.

"We hadn't shown any improvement for the last couple of months," Mariners interim GM Lee Pelekoudas said after the firing of McLaren. "In fact, we were probably regressing. To give the players a chance to improve... we thought a different voice was needed."

Enter interim manager Jim Riggleman, who was promoted from bench coach and is the fifth manager the last six years for the Mariners. Lee Elia will take Riggleman's spot, and roving minor league instructor Jose Castro is Seattle's new hitting coach.

With Mariners president Chuck Armstrong conceding to the team's official Web site the "chances to get back in this pennant race are probably zilch," coupled with CEO Howard Lincoln's assertion that no player - including star outfielder Ichiro Suzuki - is untouchable, the rest of the season promises to be tense as those players try to overcome the underachieving label they've dubiously earned the first 72 games.

Suzuki is having an off-year by his standards - the lifetime .331 hitter is batting a career-low .291 - but Richie Sexson and Jose Vidro are likely the first candidates to be released. Sexson, in the final year of a $14 million contract, is hitting just .220 with nine homers, and Vidro is batting only .219 - nearly 100 points below his 2007 average.

Both players, though, did make the trip with the team to Atlanta.

Erik Bedard (4-4, 4.14 ERA), whose lack of a dominating presence has contributed to Seattle's underachieving, gets the start for Seattle. Acquired by Bavasi in the offseason from Baltimore to shore up the front of the rotation, the left-hander has just two wins in his last nine starts and is winless since May 28.

Bedard has been plagued by an inability to pitch deep into games. He threw 99 pitches in six innings Saturday and allowed two runs against Washington before leaving without a decision in Seattle's 5-2 loss.

After that start, McLaren admitted to the team's Web site "we know Erik is a 100-pitch pitcher, and no use dwelling on it. It is what it is."

As the Mariners begin the rebuilding process, the Braves (36-38) are trying to fight their way into the NL East race. Atlanta missed a chance to climb back to .500 on Thursday, losing 5-4 at Texas in the final game of a three-game series to cap a 4-6 trip that could be deemed a success for the Braves given they entered the trip with a 7-21 road record.

"We played a lot better on this trip," said Chipper Jones, who went 0-for-4 to drop his average to .394. "We were in a lot of games. We won half as many games on this trip as we'd won all year. It could have been better, but you've got to crawl before you can walk. We pitched better and we didn't quit."

The switch-hitting third baseman is batting .459 (56-for-122) with nine homers and 28 RBIs at Turner Field.

Jorge Campillo (2-1, 2.17) was a tough-luck loser in his first-ever interleague start Saturday, limiting the Angels to two runs in a career-high eight innings of a 2-0 defeat.

"You can't pitch any better than that," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "Hardly any good swings against him all night long."

The right-hander is making his first-ever appearance against the Mariners.