PHILADELPHIA — The All-Star break is even shorter than planned for the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies.The first game of the second half was pushed up an hour to 6:10 p.m. ET because of concerns about the air quality at Citizens Bank Park. This is the only game on the MLB schedule for Thursday night, with each team coming back a day earlier from the All-Star break than the rest of the league.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. that the game was being moved.“Everybody just has to speed up their routine a little bit,” Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said.
Mattingly said there was some discussion earlier in the day about the status of the game, but forecasters were confident the air quality would improve as the day went. Team officials said changes to that forecast, specifically a decline in air quality once the sun sets, influenced the decision to move the game.What tool would the All-Star Game players take from each other?Jayne Orenstein, Rebecca Tauber and moreThe 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 air quality issues in the Northeast have caused some worry about the conditions for Sunday’s World Cup final in East Rutherford, N.J. Rain is expected in the area on Saturday, which 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 in order 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.”Jul 16, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms
