Phillies’ season on hold for 2nd day

No Phillies have tested positive for COVID-19 yet

The Phillies’ scheduled game against the New York Yankees on Tuesday night was postponed for the second straight day amid coronavirus concerns in the wake of an outbreak involving another team.

Philadelphia manager Joe Girardi confirmed the decision in an interview with MLB Network Radio.

The Phillies were having a second round of COVID-19 tests Tuesday following an outbreak among the Miami Marlins, who played a weekend series in Philadelphia.

“The fact that we haven’t had anyone test positive yet is great, but there’s too much at stake when you talk about players and their health and their family’s health,” Girardi said. “There are guys that have little children at home or wives that are pregnant or a parent that is high risk. There’s too much at risk here not to say: ‘Hey, we’ve got to back off for two days and let’s make sure.’ I think it’s smart what baseball is doing here and then we’ll go from there. We had some players that probably had some trepidation (playing against the Marlins) on Sunday because there’s close contact.”

The Yankees spent Monday in a hotel in Philadelphia after the opener of the series was postponed. They were returning to New York on Tuesday and are scheduled to host the Phillies on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Phillies would take a bus to New York on Wednesday, pending the results of their latest COVID-19 tests.

“My fear always is, if there’s one person who has it, there’s probably more,” Girardi said. “I don’t know if any of us thought there’d be, I think they’re up to 17 cases now, 15 players, devastating for the Marlins. There were some anxious moments for me today not knowing the results I’d get for my team. I think it’s really smart of baseball to wait one more day just because the incubation period is 2 to 14 days and I know we can’t wait 14 days. But I think we have to be really smart about this and after thinking about it, I think that this could happen more than one time with an organization. If everyone doesn’t play 60 games, I think that’s all right. We want to get to the playoffs. That’s the important thing. If a team plays 57 games, you go by winning percentage to take the playoff teams and you go from there.”

More than a dozen Marlins players and staff members tested positive for COVID-19 in an outbreak that stranded the team in Philadelphia on Sunday, disrupting MLB’s schedule in the early days of the pandemic-delayed season.

Miami’s home opener against Baltimore was postponed, as was Tuesday’s finale of the twogame series at Marlins Park.

CHARLES FOX — THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER VIA AP The Philadelphia Phillies, top, and the Miami Marlins hold a black ribbon in honor of the Black Lives Matter movement and in memory of George Floyd, before a baseball game Friday, July 24, 2020, in Philadelphia. Major League Baseball has already postponed a second scheduled game between Miami and Baltimore after more than a dozen Marlins players and staff tested positive for the coronavirus, prompting the club to lock down in Philadelphia. Commissioner Rob Manfred said the soonest the Marlins could resume their schedule is Wednesday, when they are set to play in Baltimore.