Milwaukee Brewers fire manager Davey Lopes

MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers, off to their worst start in franchise history, have fired manager Davey Lopes, The Associated Press has learned.

The Brewers called an 11 a.m. PST news conference today.

A team source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Lopes will be replaced by either pitching coach Dave Stewart or bench coach Jerry Royster.

The Brewers are 3-12 this season.

Lopes was in the third year of his contract and had a record of 144-195-1.

Last weekend, Brewers president Wendy Selig-Prieb had indicated she was not ready to pull the plug on Lopes, saying it was too early in the season to make such a drastic change.

The Brewers have lost 10 of their last 11 games and were drawing smaller and smaller crowds at Miller Park, which opened last year and is the site of this year’s All-Star game.

Selig-Prieb said last weekend Brewers’ fans needed to be patient because of a brutal early season schedule. She said the crowds and victories would return.

She said she had confidence in general manager Dean Taylor and in Lopes, whom she credited with retooling his coaching staff after the Brewers went 68-94 last year — their worst record since 1984.