Canadian wildfire smoke postpones MLB, WNBA, soccer games

Haley Bugeja’s Orlando Pride game among postponed events

Smoke from Canadian wildfires that shrouded several northeastern US cities in an apocalyptic smog Wednesday forced sports postponements in Major League Baseball, the Women’s NBA and National Women’s Soccer League.

The drifting haze caused air quality alerts in major cities and concerns over health issues prompted the decisions to delay the contests.

MLB said Yankee Stadium was “in an orange haze” due to “smoky conditions” in announcing the Chicago White Sox game against the New York Yankees was postponed due to air quality concerns. It will be played as part of a Thursday double-header.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation issued an air quality alert. The air quality index (AQI) at Yankee Stadium was 335, which is considered hazardous.

On Tuesday, the White Sox defeated the Yankees 3-2 in a game played in smoky conditions.

MLB also postponed the game at Philadelphia involving the host Phillies and Detroit Tigers due to air quality, that contest was also delayed to Thursday.

The NWSL’s NJ/NY Gotham FC home match against the Orlando Pride in Harrison, New Jersey, was postponed until August 9 due to the New York metro area air quality concerns.

“The safety of our players, officials and fans is our top priority,” the NWSL said in a statement. “Following consultation with the NWSL medical and operations staff, it was determined that the match could not be safely conducted based on the projected air quality index.”

Even indoor events were delayed, with the WNBA New York Liberty’s home game in Brooklyn against the Minnesota Lynx postponed due to air quality issues.