Phillies-Yankees game postponed amid COVID-19 outbreak
By Matt Rappa
Monday’s Phillies-Yankees game has been postponed amid the Marlins’ COVID-19 outbreak
The Philadelphia Phillies will not be playing their fourth game of the 2020 season on Monday against the New York Yankees at Citizens Bank Park.
The game has been postponed, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, following the recent COVID-19 outbreak among the Miami Marlins players and staff who were at the venue for a three-game series this past weekend. Exactly one-third of the 33 Marlins players who traveled with the team to South Philadelphia have tested positive for the virus, in addition to two coaches, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports.
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The announcement of the Phillies-Yankees postponement comes after Marlins likewise postponed their home opener against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday back at Marlins Park. The Orioles had already traveled to the Sunshine State; the Marlins, meanwhile, remain quarantined in Philadelphia as of Monday morning.
According to Passan, for now, the remaining games on Monday evening’s Major League Baseball slate “may be played.”
The Phillies took immediate steps after receiving word of the COVID-19 outbreak at their ballpark, including fumigating and disinfecting any surfaces Marlins players, coaches, and staff may have came into contact with — including the visitors clubhouse. The Phillies also asked their visiting clubhouse staff to quarantine; the Yankees had brought staff members to fill the clubhouse void in the meantime.
The Marlins learned before Sunday’s game that three players had tested positive for COVID-19. So they held a player’s meeting to decide if they should play against the Phillies. Can’t find that protocol in MLB’s 101-page manual.
— Matt Breen (@matt_breen) July 27, 2020
The Phillies are now taking COVID-19 tests with the hopes the virus did not spread larger than what is currently being reported; results are still pending. This is not good news for the 2020 Major League Baseball season, but, more importantly, the health for all of those involved.
Manager Joe Girardi’s squad fell in two of their three games against the Marlins, with the lone win coming in a 7-1 victory behind a strong outing from Zack Wheeler in his team debut.
The question now becomes, how will Monday’s game against the Yankees be made up? The Phillies have only six scheduled off days and were scheduled to play the Yankees for just one stretch this season, July 27-30. It is possible the teams could play a doubleheader on Tuesday — but, will hopefully negative COVID-19 testing results suffice, or give them confidence to do so? It could take days before any possibly infected person to test positive.
Now, the question becomes not only if the Phillies will be able to play Tuesday, but at all for the remainder of the season.