Justin Turner was pulled from Game 6 of the World Series after seven innings on Tuesday night, and the world found out the shocking reason why: Turner tested positive for COVID-19.
Turner started and began the game for the Los Angeles Dodgers as the No. 3 hitter and third baseman. But he was pulled before the start of the eighth, with Enrique Hernandez going to second, Chris Taylor moving to left, and Edwin Rios playing third.
There was no explanation for why Turner was removed until after the Dodgers won the World Series 3-1.
During FOX’s postgame show, host Kevin Burkhardt disclosed that Turner was removed from the game due to a positive COVID-19 test.
So why was he allowed to play in the game if he had COVID-19? ESPN’s Jeff Passan explained what happened.
According to Passan, Turner’s test on Monday came back inconclusive. Turner’s Tuesday test had just arrived at the lab, was tested, and showed up positive. The news was shared with the proper MLB channels, which led to Turner being pulled from the game.
In the second inning tonight, the lab doing COVID tests informed MLB that Justin Turner’s test from yesterday came back inconclusive. The samples from today had just arrived and were run. It showed up positive. The league immediately called the Dodgers and said to pull Turner.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 28, 2020
Players have been living in a “bubble” type situation during the playoffs and have been able to avoid contracting COVID-19. The Dodgers have been in Arlington, Texas since the NLCS. MLB decided to limit travel in the postseason and went almost two months without a positive test prior to Turner’s result.
“It’s a bittersweet night for us,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a postgame interview on FOX. “Obviously we’re concerned when any of our players test positive. We learned during the game that Justin (Turner) was positive. He was immediately isolated to prevent the spread.”
Turner went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts before being removed. He had hits in the first four games of the series and homered in Games 3 and 4.
