Nationals Game Postponed As Team Deals With COVID-19 Outbreak

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Major League Baseball postponed Wednesday night's game between the Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies as the Nationals deal with a COVID-19 outbreak among players and staff members.

The game postponement comes after Nationals shortstop Trea Turner was removed from Tuesday night's game when his COVID-19 test came back positive.

On Wednesday, the Nationals had 11 more positive cases of COVID-19, Nationals manager Dave Martinez told reporters. Wednesday night's game was supposed to be the third game of a four-game series with the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

MLB announced Thursday evening that the Nationals and Phillies will play a straight doubleheader on Thursday starting at 12:05 p.m. to make up for the postponed game. The games on Thursday could get postponed, though, if additional players on the Nationals test positive for COVID-19.

The timeline for Turner's positive result suggests his test was taken Monday. Martinez told reporters that he could not comment on whether Turner has been vaccinated, ESPN reported. But the manager said he believes only one of the 12 players and staffers who tested positive was unvaccinated.

Among the 12 positive tests, four of them are players, including Turner, and the others are Nationals staff members, according to Martinez, who said some of them are showing symptoms. But so far, none of the players and staff who tested positive are "very sick," he added.

The 12 people who tested positive will be out until they have multiple negative tests, according to Mark Zuckerman, a reporter for MASNsports.com.

Everyone else on the team will go through another round of rapid testing, and if more players and staffers come back positive, they will be out as well. The Nationals will need a minimum of four new players to arrive in Philadelphia for tomorrow's games, Zuckerman reported.

The Nationals surpassed MLB's 85 percent vaccination threshold in late May for players, trainers, coaches and other on-the-field personnel. By doing so, the Nationals have been able to enjoy relaxed COVID-19 guidelines on masking, dining out and other social aspects.

In early April, MLB postponed the Nationals' season-opening series with the New York Mets after several Nationals players tested positive for COVID-19.