Scheduled games between the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners as well as the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants have been postponed following the Jacob Blake shooting, according to CBS Sports' Jim Bowden.
Conflicting reports came out regarding the Dodgers-Giants game, as NBC Sports Bay Area's Alex Pavlovic reported that no decision had been made regarding the game's postponement a few hours prior to first pitch. Both teams posted their lineups on Twitter.
However, multiple reports later confirmed that the game between Los Angeles and San Francisco is indeed postponed.
The San Francisco Giants-Los Angeles Dodgers game tonight has been postponed, sources tell ESPN. It's the third MLB game to be canceled in the wake of the NBA players refusing to play after the fallout of the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 27, 2020
SOURCE: After a lengthy team meeting the Los Angeles #Dodgers have decided NOT to play in tonight's game.
— Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) August 27, 2020
Players at the NBA “bubble” in Orlando facilitated a seismic change in the sporting world on Wednesday.
The Milwaukee Bucks' decision to boycott Game 5 of their first-round series against the Orlando Magic resulted in the eventual postponement of Wednesday's Houston Rockets-Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Lakers-Portland Trail Blazers games as players call for justice following the shooting of Jacob Blake over the weekend.
The Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds became the MLB first clubs to announce they would not play earlier Wednesday evening. The two teams have since released a joint statement explaining the decision not to take the diamond.
Statement from Brewers and Reds players: pic.twitter.com/qbAYF9ld8P
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) August 26, 2020
Much like in the NBA (though to a much lesser degree), this created a bit of a snowball effect with Padres-Mariners being postponed as well, and reportedly Dodgers-Giants as well.
Padres game postponed after Mariners vote not to play in social injustice protest https://t.co/Q229xV7kG5
— Kevin Acee (@sdutKevinAcee) August 26, 2020
BREAKING: The Dodgers vs Giants and Mariners vs Padres games will be postponed tonight.
All other MLB games will be played tonight.
(Per @JimBowdenGM)
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) August 26, 2020
Mariners infielder and established veteran Dee Gordon took to Twitter to explain the team's decision, explaining racial injustice is “deeply personal” to both himself and his teammates. Teammate Shed Long also posted a picture with the caption “Enough is enough.”
There are serious issues in this country. For me, and for many of my teammates, the injustices, violence, death and systemic racism is deeply personal. This is impacting not only my community, but very directly my family and friends. Our team voted unanimously not to play tonight
— Dee Strange-Gordon (@FlashGJr) August 26, 2020
Enough is enough pic.twitter.com/Rhs0hbLVMN
— Shed Long Jr. (@SLONG895) August 26, 2020
Other games are either underway or expected to be played, though Black players around the league are still finding ways to protest.
Chicago Cubs right fielder Jason Heyward was a healthy scratch, as was St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Dexter Fowler.
Jason Heyward, one of the most respected players in the Cubs clubhouse, made a personal choice to sit out but encouraged the rest of his teammates to play tonight in Detroit.
— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) August 26, 2020
Dexter Fowler is out of the #stlcards lineup. Edman will play RF tonight. Updated lineup coming.
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) August 26, 2020
In New York, Mets outfielder Dominic Smith took a knee during the national anthem.
Dom Smith takes a knee during the national anthem before tonight's game. pic.twitter.com/E5zmpIW0yi
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 26, 2020
Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Cole Tucker also issued a statement on Twitter, saying “Ending police brutality is more important than sports.”
It always seemed unlikely MLB would act with as much uniformity as the NBA. Nevertheless, the postponements for the Dodgers-Giants and Padres-Mariners games and statements are a strong showing of solidarity as the sporting world hopes to invoke a sense of responsibility and action.