Phillies' air quality update raises health, visibility concerns during Mets game tonight on ESPN after changed start time

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Phillies' air quality update raises health, visibility concerns during Mets game tonight on ESPN after changed start time originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The ESPN broadcasters have made repeated references to it -- the air quality and visibility in Philadelphia are getting worse.

The Phillies are hosting the New York Mets on Thursday night to return from the All-Star Break, but the game had its start time changed quite late in the day in hopes of beating the worst AQI (Air Quality Index).

A scheduled 7:10 p.m. first pitch was moved up to 6:10 p.m. only a bit more than an hour before the new start time.

And as the game has gone on, visibility has gotten worse. The television broadcast has shown declining views of anything visible beyond the outfield fence into the city.

"He's aware of the numbers," ESPN's Buster Olney reported about the home plate umpire during the television broadcast. "... Right now, he feels like it's good."

Olney added that the game began at 156, then went up above 170, and then that it's down in the 130s. Over 150 is "unhealthy," and over 200 is "very unhealthy."

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This is what The Athletic's Matt Gelb posted on X about an hour after the game started:

"The air quality has worsened during this game. Jeremy Wilt, the Phillies head groundskeeper, met with two umpires before the fifth inning. It's hard to even see Center City from here right now."

The Ringer's Anthony Dabbundo, who is based in Philadelphia, added this:

"I know ESPN didn’t want to lose this slot but it’s ridiculous they’re playing this game tonight."

It's hard to know whether they'd ever call the game early, but it doesn't seem like an ideal scenario.

These teams may have been backed into having to play this game for two reasons: They're the only game on the slate Thursday, and the conditions could get worse before they get better this weekend.

It's not ideal, but it's a tricky situation.

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