Miami Marlins' manager Don Mattingly looks out from the dugout during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Saturday, July 25, 2020, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Two major league games scheduled for Monday night were postponed as the Miami Marlins deal with a coronavirus outbreak that stranded them in Philadelphia.
The Marlins' home opener against Baltimore was called off, as was the New York Yankees' game at Philadelphia. The Yankees would have been in the same clubhouse the Marlins used last weekend.
The Marlins postponed their flight home Sunday night after their series finale against the Phillies.
A person familiar with the decision to postpone the Marlins-Orioles game told The Associated Press that the move was made due to health precautions. A second person confirmed the postponement of the Yankees-Phillies game. Both people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the postponements hadn't been announced by Major League Baseball.
Marlins pitcher Jose Urena was scratched from his scheduled start in Sunday's game, and catcher Jorge Alfaro went on the injured list Friday. No reasons were given for the moves, but manager Don Mattingly said those who tested positive would be quarantined in Philadelphia.
The Marlins' precarious health raised anew doubts about MLB's ability to finish the season during a pandemic. In Cincinnati, Reds second baseman Mike Moustakas and center fielder Nick Senzel felt sick Sunday, a day after a teammate went on the injured list because he tested positive for COVID-19.
Some Marlins players texted each other about the team's health issues before Sunday's game, but there was no talk of declining to play, shortstop Miguel Rojas said.
"That was never our mentality," Rojas said. "We knew this could happen at some point. We came to the ballpark ready to play."
Said Mattingly: "It's fair to say guys are concerned about things. They want how they're feeling about the situation to be heard. I think it's fair. We're talking about health."
The Marlins played exhibition games at Atlanta on Tuesday and Wednesday against the Braves, who have since been without their top two catchers, Tyler Flowers and Travis d'Arnaud, after both players showed symptoms of COVID-19. Mattingly declined to say whether he thought the Marlins' health issues were related to the Atlanta stop.
Miami is a hot spot for the pandemic, but on Sunday, Mattingly said he feels safer there.
"You feel safe at the ballpark; I feel safe with my surroundings going home," he said. "It's a lot scarier on the road."
___
AP Sports Writers David Ginsburg in Baltimore and Rob Maaddi in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
Brandon Marcello, National College Football Reporter for 247Sports, breaks down each of the two semifinal matchups and explains why the smart money is on the two SEC teams.
Sponsored by BetMGM
Mark Drumheller, betting analyst for Yahoo Sportsbook and The Sharp App, dives into an icy matchup between the Vikings and Packers, as well as other must-watch games including a potential trap in Baltimore.
Sponsored by BetMGM
Trysta Krick, Host of 'BetMGM Tonight' helps clear up a very crowded playoff picture by making selections for Week 17's top games while pointing to to an AFC West matchup for her lock of the week.
Sponsored by BetMGM
Trysta Krick and Mark Drumheller give viewers their winning picks ahead of Week 17 of the NFL season, while Brandon Marcello dissects each of the College Football Playoff semifinal matchups.
Sponsored by BetMGM
The National Women's Soccer League is partnering with Voyager Digital as its first-ever cryptocurrency brokerage in a multi-year deal. Marla Messing, interim CEO of the NWSL, and Steve Ehrlich, CEO of Voyager Digital, joined Cheddar to discuss benefitting the league and educating players and fans as a way of democratizing cryptocurrency. Messing explained that the players themselves will own half the assets as part of how the deal is structured. "My hope is, just in terms of the expectations of crypto over the long term, that I hope a lot of them are able to just let it sit there," she said. "And that one day this will be a nice retirement account for them."
Barstool Sports CEO Erika Nardini joined Cheddar's Kristen Scholer to discuss plans for the future even as COVID-19 upended Barstool's sponsorship of the Arizona Bowl featuring the Boise State Broncos and the Central Michigan Chippewas due to the spreading omicron variant. "In our case as a company, coronavirus has been a big boom for us," she noted. "We've been able to create a lot of new programming, launch a lot of different personalities, and frankly take share from traditional media, and that's what we've done the entire pandemic." While she admitted to taking a hit on the canceled Bowl game, live events aren't completely off the table for Barstool in 2022. Nardini also talked about potential sports betting expansion following its partnership with Penn National Gaming.
