Leading Off: Phillies end layoff, visit Judge, Cole, Yankees

A look at what's happening around the majors on Monday:

BACK TO WORK

The Philadelphia Phillies face a difficult assignment in their long-awaited return to action.

Bryce Harper and the Phils haven't played since opening the season with a three-game series against the Miami Marlins, a team that has had at least 18 players test positive for the coronavirus. Although the Phillies didn’t have any players test positive, their games last week were postponed as a cautionary measure.

Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell runs with a bucket after it was announced that the Brewers home opener was postponed after two St. Louis Cardinals employees tested positive for the coronavirus, Friday, July 31, 2020, in Milwaukee. (AP PhotoMorry Gash)

The Phillies got to work out again Saturday, and now come back from a weeklong layoff to face Gerrit Cole and the AL East-leading New York Yankees on the road.

Jake Arrieta takes on a power-packed lineup at Yankee Stadium. New York star Aaron Judge has homered in five straight games.

This marks a homecoming of sorts for Phillies first-year manager Joe Girardi. He managed the Yankees from 2008-17 and helped them beat Philadelphia in the 2009 World Series.

FILE - This is a Sunday, Sept. 22, 2019, file photo showing Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona talking before a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies in Cleveland. Baseball is back, but because of the coronavirus, official scorers will work remotely this season to rule on hits and errors, make other judgments and tabulate box scores. Francona said the game slows down as you get farther away from the action, which affects judgment on deciding whether a play should be a hit or an error. So he's not keen on scorers working from home.(AP PhotoPhil Long, File)

HOME AT LAST

The Milwaukee Brewers are finally playing their home opener a few days later than expected.

Milwaukee planned to open its Miller Park schedule Friday against St. Louis, but the Brewers’ entire three-game weekend series got scrapped after multiple Cardinals tested positive for coronavirus. There could be more word Monday on how many St. Louis players are affected

The Brewers will try again when the Chicago White Sox come to town. Milwaukee won't have two-time All-Star outfielder Lorenzo Cain or former MVP Ryan Braun in the lineup.

Braun was put on the 10-day injured list Sunday, retroactive to July 30, with an infected right finger. Cain announced Saturday he was opting out of the rest of the season over virus concerns,

That likely creates more playing time for Ben Gamel, who has a homer and a triple in 12 at-bats this season.

ALL DONE

The Mets will play the rest of the season without two-time All-Star slugger Yoenis Céspedes.

Céspedes wasn't at the ballpark in Atlanta for Sunday's game and his agents told the team in the late innings that he had opted out of playing anymore this year because of COVID-19 cocerns.

Cespedes and Cain join San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher David Price and Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman as former All-Stars who have opted out.

MISSING MANAGER

The Cleveland Indians likely will be missing manager Terry Francona for a second straight game when they visit Cincinnati.

Francona left the team before a 3-1 loss at Minnesota on Sunday due to what the Indians said was a minor gastrointestinal condition not related to COVID-19.

Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said Francona would get checked out at a Cleveland clinic.

“I think it’s reasonable to conclude he may not join us in Cincinnati,” Antonetti said. “That’s as much for logistic reasons as anything else. For him to join us, he would then have to fly from Cleveland back to Cincinnati, which for only a two-game series, I’m not sure that would make a ton of sense.”

CHECK THEM

Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts has been pulled early from two straight games. His legs were sore after playing on the artificial turf Arizona, and he injured a finger on his left hand Sunday. Los Angeles open a series at San Diego in a matchup of young, talented pitchers — Walker Buehler vs. Chris Paddack. ... Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto was put on the injured list before the opener of Sunday’s doubleheader at Detroit. The Reds gave no reason for the move but specified that Votto, a six-time All-Star, is not on the 10-day injured list. Votto, 36, is batting .259 with two home runs and five RBIs in seven games this season.

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A look at what's happening around baseball Saturday:

CABRERA REIGNS

Miguel Cabrera should get to swing for his 3,000th career hit after his pursuit was delayed a day by a rainout.

The Tigers are set for a day-night doubleheader against Colorado at Comerica Park. The teams were washed out Friday.

Cabrera got to 2,999 hits on Wednesday night, then struck out in his final at-bat of the game. The 39-year-old went 0 for 3 with an intentional walk on Thursday.

Antonio Senzatela (0-1, 2.16 ERA) is ready to pitch the first game of the twinbill for Colorado. The Rockies right-hander and Cabrera are both from Venezuela.

“He’s going to go down as one of the best hitters of all time,” Hall of Famer and former Tigers shortstop Alan Trammell said Friday.

“He realizes that it’s getting toward the end, but he still has something left in the tank. When it’s all said and done this year, I think he’s going to have a heck of a year,” he said.

JAPANESE PERFECTION

The baseball world will be watching this weekend to see whether Roki Sasaki can do it again.

The 20-year-old Japanese pitcher with the 100 mph fastball and devastating splitter has thrown 17 straight perfect innings. He’ll start Sunday for the Chiba Lotte Marines against the Orix Buffaloes in Osaka.

Sasaki pitched a perfect game against Orix on April 10, the first in Japan in 28 years. He followed up with eight more perfect innings on April 17 before he was pulled by manager Tadahito Iguchi after 102 pitches. Sasaki struck out a combined 33 in those games.

Sasaki grew up in the northeastern Japanese prefecture of Iwate. His father was killed in the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent meltdown on three nuclear reactors that devastated that part of the country.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson is appealing his second suspension this season after Major League Baseball banned him for one game Friday after he gave fans the middle finger two days earlier.

Anderson had three errors in the first two innings of Chicago’s 11-1 loss Wednesday in the opener of a doubleheader. The frustrated 28-year-old made the gesture toward a fan while out in the field. Anderson will remain with the White Sox until his appeal is heard.

Anderson also missed the firt two games of the season serving a two-game suspension for making contact with umpire Tim Timmons during the ninth inning of a game on Sept. 27. Anderson successfully appealed that suspension down from three games.

GIANT PAIN

San Francisco's injured list is getting crowded after right-hander Anthony DeSclafani and outfielder Steven Duggar hit the shelf Friday.

DeSclafani went on the 10-day IL with right ankle inflammation a day after allowing five runs in five innings during a loss to the Mets. Manager Gabe Kapler says DeSclafani will get an MRI on Monday.

Duggar was added to the 60-day IL with a left oblique strain. He was pulled from Thursday's loss in the second inning.

The pair joins starter Alex Cobb and hitters Evan Longoria, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Tommy La Stella on the IL.

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