NEW YORK (Reuters) – Poor air quality conditions forced the cancellation of Major League Baseball (MLB), National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) games on Wednesday, as smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted south.
Millions of Americans were urged to stay indoors up and down the U.S. East Coast and as far west as Ohio and Kansas, as the smoke blanketed cities in a yellowish haze.
MLB postponed games in Philadelphia between the Detroit Tigers and the Phillies and in New York between the Chicago White Sox at the Yankees. Both games were expected to be made up on Thursday.
“These postponements were determined following conversations throughout the day with medical and weather experts and all of the impacted Clubs regarding clearly hazardous air quality conditions in both cities,” MLB said in a statement.
The Washington Nationals said they would go ahead with plans to play the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday evening, as scheduled.
A match that Gotham FC was set to play at home in Harrison, New Jersey, against the Orlando Pride was rescheduled for Aug. 9 as reduced visibility forced the Aviation Administration to slow or halt some flights into nearby Newark Liberty International Airport.
A WNBA game in Brooklyn between the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty, which was set to tip off at 7 p.m. ET was also postponed.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Toby Davis)
