By Joe Pantorno
Tuesday night’s game between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies has been postponed, per multiple reports, as a precaution following the Miami Marlins’ coronavirus outbreak within the city over the weekend.
It’s the second-straight night the game between the two sides at Citizens Bank Park was postponed. The teams were set to play a four-game, home-and-home series into Thursday.
No makeup dates have been released as of yet, but the teams are expected to return to New York for Wednesday night’s game at Yankee Stadium.
According to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury, the Phillies will bus to the Bronx on Wednesday morning.
The postponements stem from the Miami Marlins’ coronavirus outbreak while they were in Philadelphia over the weekend for their series-opening three-game series. Per previous reports, at least 14 team members tested positive for the virus — including three on Sunday, just hours before their series finale against the Phillies.
On Tuesday, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported that four more Marlins players tested positive for the virus, bringing their total estimated number up to 17.
Despite the positive tests, the Marlins opted to play, possibly exposing the Phillies to the virus. The Phillies were tested on Monday and results are pending, though MLB Network’s Joel Sherman reported Tuesday morning that no players “so far” have tested positive.
Meanwhile, the downtime allows the Phillies to properly disinfect the visitors’ clubhouse, which the Yankees were supposed to inhabit beginning Monday.
The potential spread to the Phillies is paramount to Major League Baseball’s chances of being able to get through the 2020 season. If protocols properly stymied the spread of the virus and contained it to just the Marlins’ clubhouse, optimism around the viability of the 60-game schedule improves.
If the Phillies — who had multiple COVID-19 cases during the summer — have players who test positive, MLB has a problem. Not to mention the stadium staff and operations members that come in contact with these teams, thus potentially bring the virus into their homes.
