'Dangerous and scary': Cardinals' situation has Tigers' attention ahead of St. Louis visit

Detroit -- Put it this way: The situation with the St. Louis Cardinals has the Tigers' attention.

"This thing is dangerous and scary, and everyone knows it," Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said Friday. "We're paying attention."

Major League Baseball postponed Friday’s game between St. Louis and Milwaukee after two Cardinals employees tested positive for the coronavirus.

The Cardinals are scheduled to come to Comerica Park Monday and Tuesday, with the Tigers traveling to St. Louis Wednesday and Thursday.

"There's only so much we can do about that," Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer said. "It's real scary. We knew there would be positive tests, there's no denying that. But with the Cardinals, it's all about trust and responsibility. You have to trust the guys on your team, the coaching staff and trust everyone you come in contact with to do their part.

"And I'm not saying the Cardinals didn't, or the Marlins (19 positive tests). But it just takes one guy and that's what this shows. I trust Major League Baseball protocols. If they deem it safe for us to play them next week, then I will be on board. It's their call."

The league cancelled the game Friday morning and conducted additional tests and did the requisite contact tracing. The Cardinals players were immediately isolated in their hotel rooms in Milwaukee.

The Cardinals and Brewers plan to resume their schedule Saturday night at Miller Park, pending results from the testing and contact tracing.

"My fingers are crossed that we get some good news," Cardinals president John Mozeliak told reporters Friday. "I actually was going to say some positive news, but when you think of that word 'positive' now there's a lot of negative to it. So, I hope we get some good news.''

Two other games scheduled for Friday involving the Marlins, Nationals, Blue Jays and Phillies had already been postponed because of an outbreak among Miami players and two positive tests on Philadelphia’s coaching staff.

"This is another loud wake-up call," Mozeliak said. 

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The Tigers had as many as six players sidelined during summer camp with virus related issues -- not necessarily positive tests. All six have been cleared.

"You put your trust in MLB and the Tigers organization that everything is going to be fine and they're going to take care of this thing," Gardenhire said. "Everybody deals with it at one time or another. All we can do is hope the right thing happens."

The Cardinals played in Minnesota on Tuesday and Wednesday before a scheduled day off Thursday. The Twins hosted Cleveland on Thursday night, meaning the Indians likely used the same visiting clubhouse as St. Louis. Minnesota is scheduled to host the Indians again Friday night.

A week into its virus-shortened 60-game season, Major League Baseball is scrambling to adjust its schedule. Commissioner Rob Manfred OK'd the scheduling of seven-inning doubleheaders to facilitate some of the makeup games. 

The Marlins haven’t played since Sunday because of an outbreak that’s infected 17 players and two staff members. Miami’s situation has also led to schedule changes for the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles, meaning eight of baseball’s 30 teams had their plans altered during the first nine days of the 67-day season.

The infected Marlins left Philadelphia in a sleeper bus Friday to return to Miami, where they will remain together in quarantine, a person familiar with the situation told the AP. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the team’s movements hadn’t been announced, said none of the Marlins has shown serious symptoms.

The rest of the team will spend the weekend in isolation in Philadelphia, where the Marlins have been stranded since their outbreak began. It’s uncertain when or where they will next play.

Officials were concerned that the latest Marlins positive test result came five days after the team was last together, when the Marlins beat Philadelphia.

Twitter @cmccosky