Nobody in Major League Baseball has been more affected by the coronavirus outbreak than the St. Louis Cardinals. St. Louis, a franchise expecting to challenge for the National League title in this 60-game season, has not played a game in the entire month of August, which hits its midway point this weekend. With the season scheduled to move into the playoffs in just over six weeks, Major League Baseball is attempting to get St. Louis to as close to the 60 game mark as possible.
To that end, the Cardinals are facing playing 11 doubleheaders and 53 games total over a 44 day stretch. With a postponed doubleheader at Detroit as of yet not planned to be made up, that ambitious schedule would push the Cardinals to having played 58 out of the 60 scheduled games, likely close enough for MLB to use winning percentage to decide on playoff qualification.
The first doubleheader for St. Louis is scheduled for today (Saturday, August 15th) against the White Sox in Chicago, starting at 1:10. After a single game on the South Side of the Windy City on Sunday, the Cardinals make the nine-mile drive northward to Wrigley Field to play the Cubs, with doubleheaders starting Monday afternoon at 4:15, and Wednesday afternoon at 1:20. A third doubleheader at Wrigley, specifically to make up the third game of the series wiped out at Busch Stadium last weekend, is slated for September 5th, with, for each doubleheader, the Cubs the home team in the first game, and the Cardinals the home team in the nightcap.
Earlier this week (Monday-Wednesday), the Cardinals home series with the Pirates was postponed, with doubleheaders planned on August 27th (2:15 PM in St. Louis), and September 18th (3:05 PM in Pittsburgh) planned to make up those games. In an effort to ease schedule congestion as much as possible, the Twins two-day visit to St. Louis to play the Cardinals on September 8th and 9th has been changed to a doubleheader at 2:15 PM on Monday, September 8th.
If deemed necessary by Major League Baseball, the postponed doubleheader with the Tigers in Detroit could be rescheduled to be played at the end of the season.
