HOUSTON— Phil Garner has interviewed for the Houston Astros managerial job — two years after the franchise fired him.

Garner met with the team on Saturday. He was the seventh of the 10 candidates slated to interview with the Astros, who fired Cecil Cooper on Sept. 21. Cooper replaced Garner when he was relieved in August 2007, along with general manager Tim Purpura.

The Astros went 74-88 in 2009, only one game better from their record in the season Garner was released.

The 60-year-old Garner got an interview for his old job after calling president of baseball operations Tal Smith to put in a recommendation for former Arizona manager Bob Melvin, who interviewed for the job on Friday. Smith told Garner that he could be a candidate if he wanted to be, and Garner said he was interested.