Yankees vs. Red Sox Postponed Due To COVID-19 Outbreak

Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images. Pictured: Nestor Cortes

Thursday’s game between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox has been postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak, ESPN reported.

It was supposed to be a day when baseball’s preeminent rivalry would take center stage as the only major, live American sporting event.

The Yankees had announced earlier on Thursday that Nestor Cortes and Wandy Peralta had been placed on the coronavirus injured list. Shortly afterward, the team abruptly canceled batting practice and asked reporters to vacate the field.

Jonathan Loaisiga had also been placed on the COVID-19 injured list last Saturday.

New York general manager Brian Cashman said Thursday the three players all tested positive for the coronavirus and are all vaccinated.

Cashman also added that three other players have pending test results.

It was not immediately clear on Thursday afternoon how many people within the Yankees — or how many people who have interacted with Cortes, Peralta and Loaisiga — have been tested.

In May, the Yankees experienced a virus outbreak that infected seven staffers and one player — all of whom had been vaccinated. Gleyber Torres was forced to miss six games as a result.

The CDC says that “vaccine breakthrough cases” are rare but possible because no vaccine can protect against an illness 100% of the time.

Yankees third base coach Phil Nevin missed work for more than a month due to lingering effects from the May outbreak, a condition also known as “long COVID.”

A workshop hosted by the National Institutes of Health has suggested that 10 to 30% of people infected with COVID-19 suffer some long-term symptoms.

It is unclear as of Thursday afternoon when the game will be made up, nor how the outbreak will affect the rest of the series.

The Yankees had been one of the first teams to reach the 85% vaccination threshold needed to loosen coronavirus-related protocols.

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