The Toronto Blue Jays are expected to play the majority of their home games at PNC Park in Pittsburgh this season after federal officials in Canada refused to allow them to host games at the Rogers Center, sources confirmed to ESPN.
An official announcement is pending approval by the State of Pennsylvania, according to SportsNet, which first reported the news.
The Canadian government denied the Blue Jays’ request to play in Toronto because the regular season schedule would require frequent round-trip travel from the United States, where COVID-19 cases are emerging. The other 29 major league teams plan to play the pandemic-shortened 60-game season at their local baseball stadiums, with no fans.
Toronto begins the season at Tampa Bay on Friday.
The schedules of the Pirates and the Blue Jays coincide almost perfectly. In addition to July 29, they don’t have a home game on the same date until September 7. The Blue Jays are slated to host Washington, where they play their previous series on July 29, but theoretically they could stay in Washington to play their scheduled two-game home series.
The Blue Jays play Sept. 1 and 2 in Miami and Sept. 3 and 6 in Boston. In lieu of the home games scheduled for Sept. 7-9 against the Yankees, when Pittsburgh is home, Toronto could go to New York and stay there for its scheduled home series Sept. 11-13 against the Mets. The road series follows against the Yankees and Phillies, and with Pittsburgh home from Sept. 21-24, the Blue Jays could play their next home series against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
Baltimore had also been considered a potential host site, outfielder Randal Grichuk said Tuesday, as was the team’s Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo, New York. Grichuk, however, said the players wanted to play in a major league stadium.
The team had been considering playing at home at its spring training facility in Dunedin, Florida, but Florida is among the states that are hotspots for the virus.
Pirates president Travis Williams confirmed the talks with the Blue Jays on Monday and appeared ready to welcome the club if it could be done safely amid the pandemic.
ESPN Jeff Passan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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