Cardinals-Pirates series officially postponed after another positive COVID-19 test

Even after the positive update on Sunday, the St. Louis Cardinals will sit out another series

The St. Louis Cardinals have had a terrible week, as they’ve been dealing with an in-house COVID-19 outbreak. As a result, the team has sat out three series against the Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs. That number has officially increased.

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Cardinals series this week against the Pittsburgh Pirates has officially been canceled. The reasoning behind the decision comes due to a positive test in the team’s latest round of examinations, per MLB insider Jon Heyman. Interesting to note, Heyman reported hours earlier that the latest tests had come back relatively clean.

As we now know, that’s no longer the case.

The extended pause continues for the Cardinals

The Cardinals have been out of action since July 31 after the first positive tests came to light, causing the team to remain inside their hotel rooms in Milwaukee. After being cleared to return to St. Louis, the number of positive diagnoses increased this past week, bringing the total to 16 players and staff members. Some of the players to test positive include pitcher Carlos Martinez, catcher Yadier Molina and shortstop Paul DeJong.

Prior to the cancelation of the upcoming Pittsburgh series, manager Mike Shildt revealed on Sunday that some players had to visit the emergency room to receive IV’s due to complications caused by the coronavirus.

St. Louis has only played five games this season and will now go 14 days at minimum of being out of action. So, the Cardinals will now have to try and play 55 games in 46 days or less, depending on when the team is cleared by the league to return to action.

With the Pirates series officially put on the back burner, the league will wait with bated breath to see if the Cardinals can potentially return as early as Thursday for their series against the Tigers.