Boston Red Sox

Friday’s Red Sox-Yankees game is tentatively still on despite COVID concerns

Thursday's postponed game between the Red Sox and Yankees will be made up next month.

Red Sox Yankees
Boston Red Sox players take batting practice at Yankee Stadium Thursday after their game with the Yankees was postponed because of positive COVID-19 tests among New York players. Frank Franklin II/AP

By Khari Thompson

1 minute to read
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After a brief scare, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees are set to kick off the second halves of their seasons as planned.

Major League Baseball said the two teams would play on Friday night after their series opener on Thursday was postponed after six Yankees reportedly tested positive for COVID-19.

“After conducting testing and contact tracing involving members of the New York Yankees’ organization, the club’s home game tonight vs. the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium will proceed as scheduled,” MLB said.

Three Yankees — pitchers Nestor Cortes, Jonathan Loaisiga, and Wandy Peralta — tested positive both in rapid tests and PCR tests during team-wide re-entry tests following the All-Star Break. The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier reports three others — Aaron Judge, Gio Urshela, and Kyle Higashioka — tested positive on multiple rapid tests and were awaiting confirmation from PCR tests.

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Judge and two other Yankees (Aroldis Chapman and Gerrit Cole) shared a dugout and clubhouse with the Red Sox’s contingent of five All-Stars — J.D. Martinez, Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, Matt Barnes, and Nate Eovaldi — in Denver this week. All five were expected to undergo additional testing due to their proximity to Judge.

Cora expressed concern about the results, noting that “some of [the Red Sox All-Stars] are vaccinated. Some of them are not.” The Red Sox are one of seven MLB teams that have not reached the 85 percent vaccination threshold needed to relax COVID-19 protocols. The Yankees are above the threshold but have struggled with breakthrough cases on multiple occasions.

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No known Red Sox tested positive for COVID-19 on either Thursday or Friday as yet.

Thursday’s postponed game will be made up as part of a split doubleheader at Yankee Stadium on August 17.

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