Members of the Miami Marlins celebrate a win with teammates against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday. The Marlins game on Monday has been postponed. Chris Szagola/AP hide caption
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Chris Szagola/AP
Major League Baseball has postponed two Monday games over fears of a coronavirus flare-up.
The Miami Marlins were scheduled to play their home opener against the Baltimore Orioles. The Marlins played their first three games of the season against the Philadelphia Phillies, and a Phillies game against the New York Yankees in Philadelphia has also been postponed.
At least eight players and two coaches from the Marlins have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a report from ESPN.
The MLB says Marlins players and staff will stay in Pennsylvania and self-quarantine while the league conducts additional COVID-19 testing.
No new dates have been announced for either game.
The decision comes just days after the first pitch of Major League Baseball’s shortened and heavily-modified 2020 season.
Even before the regular season started, it was clear the coronavirus would have an impact on the league, as player and staff across the country tested positive for COVID-19. Last month, the league closed all of its spring training facilities for intensive cleaning after a flurry of positive tests.
The beginning of the regular season also marked an increase in risk for teams as they begin to travel for games, as NPR’s Tom Goldman has reported.
The league has said that as of Thursday, 84 players and 15 staff members have tested positive in the last month.
