The Oakland Athletics have been shut down since Sunday after a member of the A's organization tested positive for the coronavirus last weekend. Following the postponement of Sunday's A's-Astros game at Minute Maid Park, MLB announced the postponement of Oakland's three-game series against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park as well.
We now have some good news. The A's announced Thursday that they will return to the field Friday against the Padres, as scheduled, in Oakland. This means they only ended up being down four games.
The three-game Athletics-Mariners series will be made up with a doubleheader on Sept. 14 in Seattle and the single game that had been scheduled in Oakland on Sept. 26 will now become a doubleheader. The A's will make up the Aug. 30 game vs. the Astros as part of a doubleheader on Sept. 8.
The Athletics are the fifth MLB team to have at least one positive COVID-19 test during the season. The person's identity and role (player, coach, staff member, etc.) were not disclosed.
The Cardinals, Marlins, Mets, and Reds were all shut down anywhere from four days to two weeks with positive tests. The Marlins had the most serious outbreak, with 18 players and 21 total individuals testing positive.
MLB shut the Reds (one positive) and Mets (two positives) down four days each following their recent positive tests.
It should be noted this is the first time a team in the West region has has a positive COVID-19 test. MLB went with regional play this year to reduce exposure (i.e. East vs. East, Central vs. Central, West vs. West) and now all three regionals have experienced some level of outbreak. This is also the first positive test among American League teams.
