The Los Angeles Dodgers won their first World Series title in 32 years with a 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 6 on Tuesday night. But minutes after the victory, there was breaking news on Fox during the Dodgers’ celebrating that third baseman Justin Turner was removed from Game 6 due to a positive COVID-19 test.
Turner was taken out of the game in the top of the eighth inning, after going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. He’s the first MLB player to test positive for COVID-19 in six weeks.
The timing of the COVID-19 test return is bizarre, and it’s fair to wonder if anybody else will test positive. And who knows what it would’ve meant for the scheduling of Game 7 of the World Series had the Dodgers not won.
Update: More details from ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Update II: Turner tweeted that he feels “great” with “no symptoms at all.”
Update III: Turner joined the Dodgers on the field for a team photo, and even took off his mask. So, we’re left with more questions than answers.
Update IV: Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports that Turner tested positive twice, and there was not a a false positive. The results from Monday’s test came back positive on Tuesday, and a test from Tuesday afternoon also came back positive. Turner was asked not to go onto the field, but he and the Dodgers “insisted upon it.”
https://twitter.com/SarahSpain/status/1321320110007734273
Update V: Rosenthal issued a correction on his report, saying that the first test result came back in the second inning on Tuesday night, not in the afternoon.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.