NEW YORK — Major League Baseball loves to showcase the Red Sox and Yankees, and having them alone on the baseball stage to unofficially kick off the second half of the 2021 season looked like the perfect vehicle -- for the game, and for ESPN, which had exclusive rights to the game.
So much for that.
About two and a half hours before the scheduled first pitch, the game was postponed because of a COVID outbreak with the Yankees. Major League Baseball announced the postponement and did not immediately have a rescheduled date.
The two teams were set to play Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night and a double-header for Saturday could be possible. It's also possible that MLB could wait and reschedule the game on an open date on the calendar, or wedge it into a two-game series here in mid-August.
The game is second in a row on the Red Sox' schedule in which their opponents have been compromised by a COVID outbreak. In the final game of the first half, the Philadelphia Phillies were struck by a similar outbreak, necessitating four players being placed on the COVID-IL list doe to contract tracing and exposure to the virus.
The Red Sox are one of seven teams remaining that has not cleared the 85 percent vaccination rate to date, which allows for a relaxing of protocols on the road, and helps prevent the kind of contract-tracing policies that could result in even vaccinated players having to isolate after exposure.
Sale makes start: Chris Sale entered the final phase of his long comeback from Tommy John surgery with his first official rehab start.
Pitching in Fort Myers for the Sox' Gulf Complex League affiliate, Sale threw three innings and 39 pitches against a Baltimore Orioles affiliate.
"He was up to 97 mph,'' reported Alex Cora. "He sat at 93-94 mph. I just talked to him. He's very excited. Going into the game, he felt good. During the game, he felt good. After the game, he felt good. Now we have to wait until (Friday) to make sure he feels good. But the plan is for him to go Portland for Tuesday. So far, so good.
"He got hit around. They were swinging the bats, which is good. I think competition is always great and not dominating at-will. That's always good confidence-wise. But the fact that he had to work is good.