Oakland A’s report positive test for coronavirus, Sunday game postponed

The Oakland A’s reported a positive coronavirus test on Sunday, and their afternoon game against the Houston Astros has been postponed.

The identity of the person who tested positive is not public information, and could be a player or other staff member.

The A’s and Astros have an off-day Monday, but the game will not be made up at that time, reports insider Brian McTaggart. They still have one more series together this season, in Oakland from Sept. 7-10.

A’s general manager David Forst says the club learned about the positive test Saturday night just before 10 p.m., reports Susan Slusser of the S.F. Chronicle. The test that yielded a positive result was taken on Friday, per Brodie Brazil of NBCS.

According to a press release by the A’s: “The team conducted testing and contact tracing for the entire traveling party this morning and will self-isolate in Houston with recommended safety precautions in place.”

They hope to receive the results of this morning’s tests by Monday so they can plan their next move, reports insider Martin Gallegos. It’s not yet clear when they might resume playing, notes Slusser.

“Anything beyond today, we’re not going to speculate on,” said Forst, via Gallegos. “Ultimately, we need to see if this is an isolated infection or a larger issue.”

More from Forst, via John Hickey of Sports Illustrated.

“We have a resilient group of guys who have taken this seriously all along and who understand the sacrifices they’re making to play. I have confidence we’ll get through this.”

In related news, the Astros shut down their alternate training camp in Corpus Christi on Sunday after a positive test, for the second time this summer, reports Jake Kaplan of The Athletic. They also closed the camp a couple weeks ago after a positive test among the people there, but it had since reopened.

The A’s join the Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Mets as teams that have experienced positive tests during the 2020 season. The Reds and Mets were the more recent examples and were able to return to action much faster than their predecessors, but each club still missed at least four days (only three games for the Reds due to an off-day in between).