So far, West is best at avoiding virus disruption
PHOENIX — It was a rarity at the time and provided a very 2020-style photo op: Oakland’s masked first baseman Matt Olson chatting with Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout, who was also masked as he prepared to run the bases.
Less that two weeks later, it’s clear it was the start of the trend. When it comes to Major League Baseball’s ongoing fight to avoid COVID-19, it’s the West that’s had the most success.
Now it’s trying to keep it that way.
“I’m very excited about what’s happening here in the West,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “I don’t know if it’s dumb luck — I think all of these organizations have sent really good messages.”
The shortened 60-game schedule for this season has basically turned baseball’s 30 teams into three separate 10-team leagues for two months. The NL and AL West will only play teams in their region until the playoffs begin. The same is true for the AL and NL Central, as well as the AL and NL East.
Two of those three 10team groups have already seen major scheduling disruptions because of COVID-19. The Miami Marlins had a huge outbreak that affected 21 members of the travelling party and it scrambled the schedule for multiple teams in the East. A smaller outbreak among the St. Louis Cardinals meant several teams in the Central had to adjust.
The West has avoided a similar situation despite multiple franchises being located in states that are
Orioles 11, Nationals 0
WASHINGTON — Even Chris Davis got in on the act for the suddenly slugging Orioles, doubling his season total by collecting two of Baltimore’s 19 hits and raising his average from .087 to .143 in a victory over the Washington Nationals.
Seven of the Orioles’ nine starting position players each got at least a pair of hits. José Iglesias led the way by going 4-for-4 with three RBIs, and Renato Núñez added a three-run homer to back left-hander Tommy Milone (1-1), whose six-inning outing was the longest by an Orioles pitcher this year.
Milone, who was drafted by the Nationals in 2008 and briefly pitched for them in 2011 and 2018, allowed just three hits and didn’t walk anyone.
The Orioles were coming off getting swept in four games at home by the cobbled-together, Coronavirus-struck Miami Marlins. But after scoring a grand total of once through the first three games of that series, Baltimore put up seven runs in the finale Thursday, then kept on swinging well Friday against the reigning World Series champion Nationals and starter Aníbal Sánchez (0-2).
By the time Sánchez had recorded four outs, Baltimore led 3-0, with four hits and two walks the first time through the lineup. In all, he gave up five runs, 10 hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings as Washington dropped its second straight game and fell to 4-6.
Baltimore put up three more runs in the seventh against another reliever, Wander Suero.
Rays 1, Yankees 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Pinchhitter Michael Perez hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning on his 28th birthday, six Tampa Bay pitchers combined on a two-hitter and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the AL Eastleading New York Yankees.
Yoshi Tsutsugo drew a leadoff walk from Adam Ottavino (2-1) in the eighth and went to second with one out when Kevin Kiermaier walked. Both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch before Perez put the Rays up 1-0 on his fly to center.
Chaz Roe (2-0) went the final two innings for the win.
Masahiro Tanaka allowed one hit and struck out five over five innings, retiring his final 13 batters after giving up a first-inning single to Yandy Diaz. The Yankees’ right-hander needed just 59 pitches in his second start after beginning the season on the concussion list after being struck in the head by Giancarlo Stanton’s liner during a July 4th summer camp simulated game.
Three New York pitchers also limited the Rays to just two hits.
After being held hitless by Blake Snell and Andrew Kittredge through five innings, the Yankees got their first hit when DJ LeMahieu lined a single to right with one out in the sixth off Pete Fairbanks.
Snell needed 59 pitches to get through three innings, striking out five and walking two. Kittredge followed with two perfect innings.
Angels at Rangers, late
ARLINGTON, Texas — Mike Trout hit a two-run homer on his 29th birthday and the Angels were trailing the Rangers 4-3 in the fifth inning at press time on Friday.
The 444-foot shot was the fifth birthday home run in Trout’s career. He has hit four home runs since returning from paternity leave after the birth of his first son on July 30.
Giants at Dodgers, late
LOS ANGELES — Mookie Betts was back in the lineup on Friday and hit a double in his first at-bat against the Giants.
The Dodgers held a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning at press time.
Braves at Phillies, ppd., weather
PHILADELPHIA — The game between the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies scheduled for Friday night was postponed because of rain.
The teams will play a doubleheader of seven-inning games on Sunday.
The Phillies now have six doubleheaders on the schedule and already played a seven-inning twinbill against the Yankees on Wednesday.
The Phillies have to make up a week’s worth of games because a Coronavirus outbreak among the Marlins forced them to take a week off after several Miami players had the virus during a weekend series in Philadelphia to open the 60-game season.
Cubs at Cardinals, ppd. Coronavirus
ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals’ game
Friday against the Chicago Cubs was postponed after another St. Louis player tested positive for COVID-19.
Major League Baseball said the game was postponed to allow more time for additional testing and to complete the contact tracing process.
The Cardinals have been off since last Friday, when two players returned positive Coronavirus tests. Eight players in total have tested positive, including star catcher Yadier Molina.
The Cardinals spent five days in quarantine in a Milwaukee hotel before finally being cleared to travel back to St. Louis late Tuesday, when they returned negative tests for the second straight day. They got workouts in at home and had been prepared to return to the field Friday.
MLB released its most recent testing numbers Friday. The league said there were 13,043 samples taken last week with 13 positive results for a 0.1% positive rate. During the monitoring phase, there have been 53,826 overall samples that have returned 71 positives for a 0.1% positive rate. Of those 71 positive results, 49 are players and 22 are staff.
Tigers at Pirates, late
Marlins at Mets, late
Toronto at Boston, late
Twins at Royals, late
Reds at Brewers, late
Indians at White Sox, late
Diamonbacks at Padres, late
Astros at Athletics, late
Rockies at Mariners, late