Scheduled series between Blue Jays, Phillies postponed because of virus

Major League Baseball has postponed this weekend’s scheduled series between Toronto and Philadelphia because of concerns about the coronavirus after two Phillies staffers tested positive.

“Major League Baseball will coordinate with health experts and the Major League Baseball Players Association in planning for the Phillies’ resumption of play,” the league said in a statement Thursday.

Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo revealed news of the postponed series, saying his club was “not going to Philadelphia,” where the series was scheduled to take place.

“Our plans right now are to stay put and let MLB work through whatever they’re working through,” Montoyo said before his club played the last of four games in Washington.

Earlier Thursday, word emerged that another player with the Miami Marlins — who recently played at Philadelphia — tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing their total outbreak to 17 players, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The Phillies said there were no positive results among players from Wednesday’s testing of their team. But there were two positives: One from a member of the coaching staff and one from a member of the home clubhouse staff.

The Blue Jays are stuck on the road because the Canadian government wouldn’t let them use their stadium in Toronto this season because of fears about teams traveling back and forth to the United States. Eventually, the Blue Jays are to play home games at a Triple-A ballpark in Buffalo, N.Y., but it isn’t ready.

The Blue Jays were then supposed to start a three-game series at the Phillies on Friday. First, MLB shifted Friday’s game to part of a doubleheader Saturday, with the series finale Sunday — and now all three games are scrapped, leaving the Blue Jays in...