Pirates-Guardians game postponed over wildfire smoke
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- Cleveland Guardians postponed Friday night's home game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Progressive Field, citing poor air quality from smoke blowing south from wildfires in Canada and northern Minnesota.
- Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets saw their Thursday game — MLB's first after the All-Star break — moved up one hour in Philadelphia to account for smoke drifting from the same fires.
- Cleveland's plan is to play a split doubleheader Saturday, with the first game at 1:10 p.m. ET and the second at 7:10 p.m. ET, to make up the postponed contest.
- Smoke from the Canadian and northern Minnesota fires has spread across a wide swath of the upper Midwest and eastern U.S., and the Guardians cautioned that more Friday-night games could be postponed.
Why it matters: Wildfire smoke drifting south from Canada and northern Minnesota has already disrupted MLB's post-All-Star-break schedule, forcing the Guardians to push Friday's game into a Saturday doubleheader and prompting an earlier start for Phillies-Mets — a pattern that turns distant fires into direct scheduling, attendance, and broadcast costs for teams across the eastern half of the country.
