Lakeland, Fla. — Late in Thursday's game, one of the ushers at Joker Marchant Stadium reached in and handed manager Ron Gardenhire his phone.
"He goes, 'Read this,' " Gardenhire said. "I'm like, 'Kind of got a game going on right now.' "
The news that was on that phone, though, told Gardenhire that Thursday's 5-3 loss to the Braves was the last spring game of the season.
Major League Baseball announced as of 4 p.m. Thursday all spring training games would be suspended, and the start of the regular season would be delayed at least two weeks in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.