ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – The Twins’ games against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night and Sunday have been postponed due to Minnesota’s COVID-19 problems, including at least four positive tests in the past week.
Manager Rocco Baldelli said Saturday that Kyle Garlick, another unnamed Twins player, and a team staff member tested positive two days before the postponements. Shortstop Andrelton Simmons already hadn’t made the trip to Anaheim after testing positive early in the week, and he hadn’t been around the team since Tuesday.
“There’s not one person in our group who’s not frustrated,” Baldelli said. “Does everyone have that general frustration just having to deal with this in a grander sense? Absolutely. And then there are probably people who are frustrated about particular aspects.”
Saturday’s game was “postponed to allow for continued testing and contact tracing involving members of the Twins organization,” the league said in a statement.
The Twins are undergoing more testing this weekend in Anaheim, and they’re uncertain when they can play again. They haven’t had any more positive tests from another round Saturday, but Baldelli knows that could be false hope.
“It’s a difficult time, and we all know the timelines on these things,” Baldelli said. “If someone had been exposed, (the results) are not necessarily immediate. We’re going to return to the hotel, and we’re going to await further instructions.”
Garlick played when Minnesota lost 10-3 to the Angels on Friday night. Minnesota’s next scheduled game is in Oakland on Monday night.
Some Twins personnel isolated themselves at the team hotel Friday, according to Baldelli, who said he had a false positive himself Thursday morning. Some infected Twins had “minor symptoms … just mild fatigue, headache, scratchy throat, all that,” Baldelli said.
refused to be vaccinated.
Baldelli said the team was “close to where we wanted to be, but not close enough” regarding vaccinating most of its employees. He believes about 80% of the team has received two vaccine doses, but many employees aren’t outside the two-week window following the second dose to be fully vaccinated.
Last year, there were 45 regular-season games postponed for virus-related reasons, but only two – between St. Louis and Detroit – were not made up.
The Twins aren’t scheduled to revisit Angel Stadium this season, and the Angels visit Minnesota for four games on July 22-25.
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