NEW YORK — Zika virus concerns have forced the Pirates-Marlins series out of Puerto Rico, with the two games instead shifted to Miami this month.
NEW YORK — Zika virus concerns have forced the Pirates-Marlins series out of Puerto Rico, with the two games instead shifted to Miami this month.
Major League Baseball and the players’ union made the announcement Friday. Pittsburgh and Miami will meet May 30-31 at Marlins Park.
The union had asked Commissioner Rob Manfred to relocate the games after several players expressed fears about getting and possibly transmitting the Zika virus.
“The risk was too significant,” Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole said before Friday night’s game at St. Louis.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said Zika can cause a birth defect called microcephaly, where infants are born with unusually small heads. The virus is most often spread by mosquito bites, but it also can be spread through sexual intercourse.
“It was a tough decision for us, it was a tough issue,” Cole said. “In the end, after the thorough presentation by the CDC, there was just significant concerns for players and players families potentially expecting kids and people who may or may not be pregnant.”
The CDC had spoken to players and staff from the Pirates and Marlins about the potential risks.
“You trust the process that the union and the league is going to do what’s best for everyone and make sure they take care of everyone,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said before a game against Philadelphia.
Manfred said “players who objected to the trip because of their specific family situations should not be forced to travel to Puerto Rico,” MLB and the union said in a release.
“Because too many regulars on both clubs fell into that category, Commissioner Manfred had no choice but to relocate the games,” it said.
Pittsburgh and the Marlins were originally scheduled to play the series in Miami when the draft of the schedule was made last year. On Nov. 19, MLB said the games would be played in Puerto Rico, the homeland of Pirates Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente and many other big leaguers.
MLB has played several regular-season games at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan in the past. MLB said it hoped to play again in Puerto Rico sometime in the future.
“Go visit my beautiful Puerto Rico !! Still dont understand why MLB cancel the games down in PR! Wow!” tweeted Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, who’s from the island.
Puerto Rico has had 785 confirmed Zika cases, including its first death from the virus.
“It’s ironic that athletes are willing to go to Brazil to the Olympics and don’t want to come to Puerto Rico,” Puerto Rico governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla recently told local newspaper El Nuevo Dia.
Brazil is at the center of the Zika outbreak, putting Olympic host Rio de Janeiro in the spotlight with 10,500 athletes and up to 500,000 foreign tourists expected for South America’s first games.
Nothing has been canceled at the Games, and nearly all athletes still plan to compete.