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Hall of Fame designated hitter Edgar Martinez will serve as the Seattle Mariners‘ hitting coach for the rest of the 2024 season.

New Seattle skipper Dan Wilson announced the hire Friday, one day after Scott Servais was fired as the manager.

Martinez, 61, played his entire 18-year career in Seattle (1987-2004), earning seven All-Star nods and winning two batting titles. He retired with a .312 career average, 309 home runs and 1,261 RBIs in 2,055 games and entered Cooperstown in 2019.

Martinez has been working for the Mariners as an organizational hitting adviser since 2019 and previously served as Seattle’s hitting coach from 2015 to 2018. He takes over a Mariners team that ranks last in the majors in batting average.

“I want to thank Edgar for agreeing to join us for the remainder of the season,” Wilson said in a statement. “I’m confident his deep knowledge of hitting and experience with our hitters will be a great addition.”

Wilson and Martinez were teammates with the Mariners for 11 seasons from 1994 to 2004.

“When Dan reached out to me, I told him that I’d be happy to assist him this season in whatever way I could,” Martinez said. “I know the talent and work ethic this group of hitters has and I hope I can be of help to them.”

Martinez is one of two Mariners players to have his jersey number (11) retired, along with fellow Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. A statue of Martinez was unveiled outside Seattle’s T-Mobile Park in 2021.

Seattle fired Servais and hitting coach Jarret DeHart on Thursday after a summer slide that has dropped the team to 64-64 start to the season.

“Where we were in the middle of June and where we are today — it’s hard to believe, actually, how quickly it all dissolved for us,” Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said on a videoconference call Thursday announcing Servais’ dismissal.

The Mariners had lost eight of its past nine games heading into Friday’s series opener against the visiting San Francisco Giants. They are 5½ games behind the Houston Astros in the American League West.

Information from ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez and Field Level Media was used in this report.

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QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

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QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos, who lost his starting job earlier this week, will not be returning to the team, he announced Thursday night.

Castellanos, who started 12 games last season and retained the top job under new coach Bill O’Brien, wrote on X that “unfortunately, all good things come to an end, even though it’s sooner than I would like.” He did not mention the transfer portal in his departing message and has not officially entered it. The junior from Waycross, Georgia, started his career at UCF and appeared in five games in 2022.

O’Brien said Tuesday that Grayson James, who replaced Castellanos in last week’s win against Syracuse, will start Saturday when Boston College visits No. 14 SMU. Castellanos “wasn’t real thrilled” with the decision, O’Brien said, adding that the quarterback decided to step away from the team for several days.

Castellanos had 2,248 passing yards and 1,113 rushing yards last season under coach Jeff Hafley, passing for 15 touchdowns and adding 13 on the ground. He had 18 touchdown passes and only five interceptions this season, but his accuracy dipped in recent weeks, and he completed only 2 of 7 passes against Syracuse before being replaced.

In his statement, Castellanos thanked both coaching staffs he played for at Boston College and wrote that he had “some of the best experiences of my life in the Eagles Nest and I will truly cherish these memories forever.”

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Gators’ Lagway ‘ready to play,’ will start vs. LSU

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Gators' Lagway 'ready to play,' will start vs. LSU

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida quarterback DJ Lagway is “ready to play,” coach Billy Napier said Thursday on his weekly radio show.

Napier removed Lagway from the team’s injury report and penciled him in to start against No. 21 LSU in the Swamp on Saturday.

Lagway practiced every day this week while progressing from a strained left hamstring. The highly touted freshman was carted off the field against Georgia on Nov. 2. Tests revealed a “less significant” injury than initially feared, and now he’s back in time to face the Tigers.

The Gators (4-5, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) need him. They have to win two of their final three regular-season games to become bowl eligible.

LSU (6-3, 3-2) has struggled mightily against dual-threat QBs, including Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, who ran for 185 yards and four touchdowns last week.

Lagway returns after walk-on and Yale transfer Aidan Warner started in his place against Texas. Warner threw two interceptions and was 12-of-25 passing for 132 yards in a 49-17 loss.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Georgia leading rusher Etienne ruled out vs. Vols

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Georgia leading rusher Etienne ruled out vs. Vols

No. 12 Georgia will be without leading rusher Trevor Etienne for Saturday’s showdown against No. 7 Tennessee.

Etienne was downgraded from questionable to out on Thursday night’s SEC availability report.

Etienne left Georgia’s win over Florida with an upper-body injury on Nov. 2 and did not return. He played limited snaps in last week’s 28-10 loss at Ole Miss, carrying the ball six times for 24 yards.

Etienne leads the Bulldogs with 477 rushing yards and seven touchdowns this season.

The loss is another blow to Georgia’s banged-up backfield. Cash Jones is also listed as questionable while Branson Robinson remains out after missing the past three games with a knee injury.

That leaves true freshman Nate Frazier as the only healthy Bulldogs running back who has played meaningful snaps this year. Frazier is second on the team with 333 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

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