PHILADELPHIA — By the eighth inning, when the conditions had deteriorated at Citizens Bank Park, Brandon Marsh twisted and turned to track a line drive slicing through the smoke.
“That was pretty tough to see for a little bit,” Marsh said.
This is how Major League Baseball’s second half began: The first game between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies was hastily pushed up an hour to 6:10 p.m. ET because of concerns about the air quality. As the teams played a nondescript game, a 4-1 Mets win, the four-man umpire crew made routine checks with players to make sure everyone was still fine with doing this.
“Toward the end of it, it was a little thick. It felt like I was breathing some metal in there,” Mets starter Christian Scott, who tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings, said. “A spoonful of adversity never hurt anyone.”
Carson Benge compared the feel over the final few innings to sitting close to a campfire.
Thursday’s game between the Mets and Phillies was pushed up an hour. (Chris Szagola / Associated Press)
This was the only game on the MLB schedule for Thursday night, each team coming back a day earlier from the All-Star break than the rest of the league.
“It’s definitely different,” Bryce Harper said during the second inning of ESPN’s broadcast. “They don’t really move games too much. Not the greatest idea, I guess, to come out here and play in this type of weather. But we’re doing it.”
The smoke in Philadelphia had filtered down from wildfires in northern Ontario; cities across the United States issued air-quality warnings to residents, directing them to stay indoors as much as possible.
Phillies players, already perturbed that their break had been cut a day short because ESPN selected this game during the offseason for its exclusive window, found out a little before 4 p.m. it was being moved.
“Everybody just has to speed up their routine a little bit,” Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said.
Mattingly said there was discussion earlier in the day about the status of the game, but forecasters were confident the air quality would improve as the day went. League officials said changes to that forecast, specifically a decline in air quality once the sun set, influenced the decision to move the game.
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The Phillies limited their outdoor pregame work.
“We’re not hitting,” Mattingly said. “We are spending as little time as possible on the field. Just doing what you absolutely feel like you have to do after being gone for three days. Not trying to absorb a bunch of energy where you’re getting heated.”
“We limited our outside exposure,” Mets interim manager Andy Green said. “This is typically a day that you might have an elongated workout because guys are coming off a break, so it’s an adjustment. … We got the work done that needs to get done, just in a condensed format.”
The game in Philadelphia, a 4-1 Mets win, was the only one on the MLB schedule Thursday. (Terence Lewis / Icon Sportswire via AP Images)
The air-quality issues in the Northeast have caused worry about the conditions for Sunday’s World Cup final in East Rutherford, N.J. Rain is expected in the area Saturday. That could help clear the smoke, though it is difficult to predict how effective it will be.
The air quality at Citi Field was so bad Wednesday night that an NWSL game between Gotham FC and the Washington Spirit featured frequent hydration breaks to provide players some relief.
“If we have to have a hydration break every 15 minutes, then we shouldn’t be playing the game, and that’s my opinion,” Washington’s Trinity Rodman said after the game, which was played in front of 42,175 fans, a record for a women’s sporting event in New York. “But at the end of the day, there’s 40,000 people. It’s a whole event, so it’s really tough. It’s just a really hard situation for everyone to work around.”
In Philadelphia, the ballplayers just did as told. There was a game that had to be played. At least the Phillies and Mets are off Friday, when the conditions are forecast to be similar.
“It’s not ideal, but it is what it is,” Aaron Nola, who pitched six innings, said. “I can’t really do anything about it. … But, I mean, it’s part of the reason why it’s an outdoor stadium. You get the game in. You play through different conditions.”