In a scene eerily similar to that of a post-apocalyptic movie, the New York Yankees hosted the Chicago White Sox as the Yankee Stadium was engulfed in smoke from Canadian wildfires.
New York City topped the list of the world’s worst air pollution for parts of Tuesday as harmful smoke wafted south from more than a hundred wildfires burning in Quebec.
Smoke from Canada’s fires has periodically affected the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic for more than a week, raising concerns over the harms of persistent poor air quality.
New York City’s air quality index was above 200 at one point Tuesday night – a level that is “very unhealthy,” according to IQair. The city had the worst quality of air of any major metropolitan area Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET, according to IQair.
Later Tuesday night, New York City had the second-worst levels of air pollution in the world after New Delhi, India, IQair reported. Other cities on the list were Doha, Qatar; Baghdad, Iraq; and Lahore, Pakistan.
But the show must go on and the Yankees looked to take the opening game in their home series against the White Sox.
However, playing without captain Aaron Judge, who is set to be placed on the injured list, the Yankees had no hits through six innings and, despite nearly mounting a comeback in the ninth, lost the game 3-2.
Seby Zavala crushed two home runs into the smoky crowd to give the team on the road the initiative. The catcher homered to right field in the third inning and then hit a deep home run to the opposite side on his next at-bat in the fifth.
Liam Hendriks then managed to get his first save since returning from a battle with cancer.
Hendriks made an emotional return after undergoing treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in the White Sox’s 6-4 loss to the Los Angeles Angels last week.
“Yeah, it almost helps me when the stadium gets that loud,” said Hendriks post-game after being hit for a home run by Josh Donaldson. “I tend to get a little bit better after that. That helped me lock in a little bit more than I had initially.”
The Yankees and the White Sox play again Wednesday with New York looking to level the series.