The Major League Baseball season officially ended on Tuesday night when the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 in Game 6. The Dodgers’ first world championship title in game 32 was overshadowed by the fact that star third baseman Justin Turner was eliminated in the seventh inning due to a positive COVID test.
Now a story passed that Turner was on the field to take the championship trophy and celebrate with his teammates. Turner was also spotted on the field without a mask to take a photo with his teammates, and he hugged people on the field at the Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
Justin Turner is on the field with the trophy. pic.twitter.com/MFn7DDH1om
– Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) October 28, 2020
Justin Turner celebrates on the pitch with his mask down after being drawn for the corona virus in the 7th inning after a positive test pic.twitter.com/JOgtYBuhjI
– Brandon Wall (@Walldo) October 28, 2020
Turner scored 3-0 in Tuesday’s decisive match of the series and was eliminated from the game after the Dodgers’ late lead.
The Dodgers won game 6 on Tuesday, but were trailing 1-0 since the first inning. The Dodgers placed two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning after Adam Barnes and Mookie Betts scored to put Los Angeles 2-1 ahead. Turner flew out for the second out to the left in the lower part of the sixth inning and was replaced in the seventh by Enrique Hernandez, who shot out swinging in the eighth.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan said he learned in the second inning on Tuesday night that Turner’s test rehearsal from Monday (a day off for both teams) came back as inclusive and that Turner would have to take another test on Tuesday. Turner’s latest test was positive. When the MLB learned of this and before they could take Turner out of play, the Dodgers had taken the lead.
Turner was initially off the field at the post-match and cup celebrations, but his teammates, coaches and their family members on the field were seen wearing protective masks during the celebrations. Then photos and tweets appeared showing Turner holding the championship trophy – even though he wore a mask over his bushy red beard.
After the game, Turner tweeted that he was doing well and that he was happy for his teammates as well as for the city of Los Angeles.
“Thanks to everyone who reached out their hand! I feel great, no symptoms at all. I have simply experienced every emotion you can imagine. I can’t believe I couldn’t be out there celebrating with my boys! I am so proud of this team & incredibly happy for the city of LA,” Turner wrote.
The 2020 baseball season has been postponed two weeks before it starts. As the COVID 19 pandemic hit the country hard in mid-March, Major League Baseball cancelled the last two weeks of spring training and postponed the season indefinitely.
This summer, the season got back on track, but without fans in the stadiums and only with a schedule of 60 games per team. The playoffs were even limited as most of them were played in neutral locations and with only a few fans for the World Cup.
It is the seventh overall world series title for the Dodgers in 21 appearances. For the Rays it was the second appearance at the Fall Classic ever. They always fell back to 0:2.
