Pirates cancel flight to St. Louis, series against Cardinals postponed

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ series at St. Louis was postponed because of a covid-19 outbreak with the Cardinals.

MLB announced Sunday afternoon the series scheduled for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at Busch Stadium would not be played. ESPN first reported the postponement.

The upcoming Pirates-Cardinals series has been canceled.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) August 9, 2020

The Cardinals have nine players and seven staff members who have tested positive for the coronavirus.

The entire series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates this week has been postponed, sources tell ESPN.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 9, 2020

The Pirates were supposed to fly to St. Louis on Sunday after completing their five-game homestand with a 1:35 p.m. game against the Detroit Tigers.

The Cardinals (2-3) have not played since July 29 and have completed the fewest games in MLB this season. The Pirates, by comparison, have played 16 games.

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said before Saturday’s game against the Tigers at PNC Park the team would follow the recommendations from the league office before making decisions on whether to fly to St. Louis.

“I would certainly expect and want to have more information before we get on the plane for sure,” Cherington said. “I expect we will have more information and the league has been really good about sharing every bit of information that they can, relative to health and safety. So I would not think we would get on the plane without more information. If we do, it’ll be because we’re confident we can go there and follow the protocols for sure and be safe in doing so and get into our hotel and play major league baseball games, but we need some more information.”

The Pirates have had five players test positive for covid-19, all during the three-week training camp last month. Right fielder Gregory Polanco has since returned to the lineup, and closer Keone Kela is getting ready to return soon after throwing live batting practice on Saturday. Both tested positive.

“Yes, this is new and different, but this is what we have to do to play this year: Take it seriously,” Cherington said. “We’ve got to be really disciplined and follow the protocols really seriously. Because that’s really what limits the contagion. If you have one positive, it’s not going to take a team down. It’s the contamination that is the risk, and if we really are disciplined on the protocols, then we lower significantly the risk of containment regarding contamination. So we’ve got to be really really serious about that.”