Marking the first time a major sports league will have to deal with a COVID outbreak during the season, Major League Baseball postponed two games scheduled for Monday evening after eight Miami Marlins players and two coaches tested positive for the coronavirus, ESPN reports.
The Marlins game against the Baltimore Orioles will be rescheduled, as was the Philadelphia Phillies game versus the New York Yankees. The Phillies had hosted the Marlins for a three-game series over the weekend.
Miami had played an exhibition game in Atlanta the day before the Phillies series started.
Four Marlins tested positive after immediately after Sunday’s afternoon game; other four tested positive later in the day. A total of twelve Miami players have tested positive since teams started playing preseason games.
MLB protocol calls for players who test positive or show symptoms to quarantine for two weeks or more. There are 30 active players on MLB rosters, meaning that more than 25% of the Marlins roster will immediately be unable to play in upcoming games.
Miami, Florida has been a hotspot for coronavirus cases for the past month, with the state of Florida regularly leading the nation in new cases for the past three weeks.