NEW YORK (AP) - The St. Louis Cardinals, who have been out of action since July 31 because of a COVID-19 outbreak, announced Thursday they will play five doubleheaders to make up their postponed games.
The Cardinals will make up this week's series against the Detroit Tigers with doubleheaders Thursday and Sept. 10. St. Louis had been scheduled to play Thursday against the Chicago White Sox at the Field of Dreams in Iowa. Those teams will play Aug. 14 in Chicago instead.
Milwaukee will host doubleheaders Sept. 18 and 20 and will serve as the home team in the opener of a twinbill in St. Louis on Sept. 25.
The Philadelphia Phillies and Miami Marlins will play seven times in five days as part of Major League Baseball's reconfigured schedule to account for 21 coronavirus-caused postponements in the first two weeks of the season.
The Marlins, who had their season suspended for more than a week due to a team-wide outbreak, will finish the season playing 27 games in 23 days, a stretch featuring no days off and four doubleheaders in a 10-day span.
Miami was already scheduled to host Philadelphia for four games Sept. 10-13. The series has been extended to include a game Monday, Sept. 14, and doubleheaders have been scheduled for that Friday and Sunday.
MLB shortened doubleheaders this year to a pair of seven-inning games to help keep pitchers fresh during a condensed 60-game schedule that's been squeezed further by the rash of postponements.
The Red Sox's scheduled visit to Miami on Sept. 14 has been pushed back a day to make room for the seven-game Phillies series. The Marlins have also scheduled three doubleheaders with the Nationals - Aug. 22, Sept. 18 and Sept. 20 - to make up games postponed from last weekend.
The Phillies will play doubleheaders against the Toronto Blue Jays on Aug. 20 and Sept. 18, and also added a home doubleheader against Boston for Sept. 8.