Final 2 games of Pirates-Reds series postponed after Reds player tests positive for covid-19

The Pittsburgh Pirates-Cincinnati Reds games Saturday night and Sunday afternoon at Great American Ball Park were postponed after a Reds player tested positive for covid-19 on Friday.

MLB announced that the games were postponed “to allow for additional testing and to complete the contact tracing process.” Contact tracing helps identify who has been exposed to the coronavirus so players, coaches and staff can be quarantined from two days to two weeks.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal first reported a Reds player tested positive for the coronavirus. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported the teams were informed of the positive test and Saturday’s postponement after the Reds’ 8-1 victory over the Pirates on Friday night at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

Today's game between the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates has been postponed in the wake of the positive COVID-19 test on the Reds, a source familiar with the situation tells ESPN.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 15, 2020

A Reds player has tested positive for COVID-19, sources tell The Athletic. Team defeated Pirates on Friday night, scheduled to host them again at 6:10 p.m. ET on Saturday. Status of that game not yet known.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 15, 2020

After having three games at St. Louis postponed because of covid-19 outbreak on the Cardinals, the Pirates had split the first two games of the four-game series at Cincinnati. They were scheduled to play at 6:10 p.m. Saturday and at 1:10 p.m. Sunday. The Pirates are off Monday, so that marks two stretches of three consecutive days off in an eight-day span and throws off the schedule of their starting rotation again.

The Pirates have a six-game homestand scheduled to start Tuesday, with three games against the Cleveland Indians followed by three games against the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park.

Pirates/Reds uniformed personnel were told last night that MLB was going to make a decision this morning on the game tonight after contact tracing and results from further testing of both teams yesterday, and that officials were waiting on those results.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) August 15, 2020

An outbreak on the St. Louis Cardinals forced the postponement of the Pirates’ three-game series in St. Louis earlier this week. MLB scheduled those games to be made up with two doubleheaders: Aug. 27 at Busch Stadium and Sept. 18 at PNC Park.

The Cardinals returned to play Saturday with a doubleheader at the Chicago White Sox, the first games for St. Louis since July 29. The Miami Marlins also had an outbreak that paused their season for nine days, as 18 players and two coaches tested positive.

The Pirates had five players test positive for covid-19 during training camp last month. All five have returned to playing, with right fielder Gregory Polanco and closer Keone Kela on the major league roster and outfielder Socrates Brito, reliever Blake Cederlind and third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes at the team’s alternate training site in Altoona.