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Yankees postpone Monday game against Phillies amid Marlins coronavirus outbreak: source

The New York Daily News - 7/27/2020

PHILADELPHIA -- The Yankees woke up here Monday morning to the news that their game against the Phillies had been postponed because of a COVID-19 outbreak, a league source confirmed. The Marlins had eight players and two coaches test positive during their weekend road trip hare, according to an ESPN report. The Yankees obviously expressed their concerns about going into the same clubhouse the Marlins had just used and facing the players who had just interacted with them and addressed them with MLB.

The Marlins, who had been scheduled to fly from Philadelphia to Miami on Monday morning, had their home opener with the Orioles called off. Instead, they remained here to quarantine in a local hotel.

The Yankees were staying at a different hotel than the Marlins, according to a team source.

The language on how an outbreak on a team would affect the season is vague in the agreement between the league and union. There is no set threshold of positive, confirmed coronavirus tests which would trigger a shut down or cancel games. The language in the March deal under which this 60-game season is being played, says that if an outbreak affects the integrity of the competition, commissioner Rob Manfred has the power to cancel the season.

As of Monday morning, that was not yet being considered.

The Yankees took a bus up from Washington Sunday night, their equipment would normally go straight to the ballpark.

The Philadelphia visiting clubhouse personnel have been quarantined after having been exposed to the Marlins. In an attempt to limit their exposure, the Yankees clubhouse personnel from the Stadium came to Philadelphia to handle their equipment and staff their clubhouse.

But this is yet another blunt reminder to the Yankees about the fragility of playing a season in the middle of an uncontrolled pandemic. The virus, which has infected over 4 million Americans and killed over 145,000, shut down the sport in March for four months. After limited exposure during a three-week rebooted spring training in their home ballparks, this was the first weekend of teams breaking out of those bubbles and traveling.

The Yankees have already had to face this issue.

Hours before they were to play the first game of the MLB season in Washington Thursday night, Nationals’ star Juan Soto was scratched after he tested positive for the virus. The Bombers, however, said they never considered not playing that game.

“You know it went through my head, not playing was definitely not a thought, but I wanted it to be careful and understand the situation,” Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez said. “Someone was positive from the team and I wanted to keep my distance from their hitters. There’s a couple line ballplayers that I know there and even so I try to keep my distance, even though we’re saying ‘Hello,’ and we’re talking about baseball. So I just wanted to be careful but never went through my head. not playing.”

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