Sunday’s game between the Oakland Athletics and Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park was postponed after a member of the A’s organization tested positive for COVID-19. The announcement was made less than four hours before the scheduled first pitch at 2:10 p.m. ET.
According to Oakland general manager David Forst, the team was informed Saturday night of the positive test. (The test in question was conducted Friday.) On Sunday morning, the A’s then tested the entire group which traveled to Houston and conducted contact tracing. In the meantime, the team planned to self-isolate in Houston and follow MLB protocols. No word on whether a player, coach or staffer tested positive.
The A’s are next scheduled to play Tuesday in Seattle, but at least the opening game of that three-game series is uncertain until the team is allowed to leave Houston.
The Texas Rangers are scheduled to visit Minute Maid Park for a three-game series beginning Tuesday. The ballpark’s visiting clubhouse will undergo an additional deep cleaning before the Rangers arrive, according to Astros GM James Click.
Sunday’s postponement was the second postponement during the four-game series scheduled for this weekend. Friday’s series opener was moved to Saturday as part of a doubleheader when the A’s and Astros decided not to play the game in protest of the Jacob Blake shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, calling attention to racial injustice.
Friday was also Jackie Robinson Day in Major League Baseball, when the sport pays tribute to the first Black player to play in the major leagues. (The occasion was moved from its usual April 15, when MLB was shut down due to COVID-19 concerns.) Both teams honored Robinson by wearing his No. 42 during Saturday’s make-up game.
In the meantime, the Astros are dealing with their own COVID-19 situation. As reported by the Houston Chronicle‘s Chandler Rome, someone at the team’s alternate training site in Corpus Christi tested positive.
Rome went on to explain that Houston called up infielder Aledemys Diaz and pitcher Luis Garcia from Corpus Christi on Saturday and will conduct contract tracing as a result. This is the second positive test the Astros have had at their alternate site, the last one occurring in June.
Oakland is the fifth MLB team (and first American League club) to postpone a game because of a positive COVID-19 test, joining the Miami Marlins, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, and New York Mets. MLB has postponed 38 games due to positive tests this season. Saturday was the first time all 30 teams played on the same day in just over a month.