More postponements; Cain opts out

The coronavirus forced baseball’s 17th postponement in 10 days on Aug. 1, prompting at least two more players to opt out and casting doubt the league can complete a truncated 2020 season. A Cardinals-Brewers game in Milwaukee was postponed for the second straight day after one more player and several staff members with St. Louis tested positive for the coronavirus in rapid samples,

Major League Baseball said. The staff total of positives was three, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. MLB said results of saliva tests will not be available until later Aug. 1. Milwaukee then announced that Gold Glove center fielder Lorenzo Cain will not participate in the rest of the 2020 season.

The Miami Marlins received no new positive results in their latest round of coronavirus testing, MLB said, but second baseman Isan Díaz also opted out.

The Philadelphia Phillies, meanwhile, were permitted to access Citizens Bank Park for staggered workouts beginning in the afternoon.

MLB said no Phillies players have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week and while three staff members have tested positive, it appeared two were attributable to false positives and the third, based on the timing of the positive test, may not have contracted COVID-19 from the Marlins.

MLB rescheduled the postponed Phillies-Yankees games of this week for next week, in New York on Aug. 3-4 and in Philadelphia on Aug. 5-6. New York’s game at Tampa Bay on Aug. 6 was rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on Aug. 8. “What the virus has taught us is this is a dayby-day, week-by-week situation that we live in,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

Miami will play a fourgame series in Baltimore from Aug. 4-6, with one date a doubleheader. The Marlins will be the home team for two games.

MLB said it will reschedule the missed Yankees-Orioles game and Marlins-Phillies series.