Yankees stage doubleheader against White Sox after postponing game due to bad air

The Yankees then went ahead with Thursday’s doubleheader in the Bronx Delay Wednesday’s game due to bad air caused by Canadian wildfires.

Yankee Stadium remains shrouded in a thick cloud of smoke, but with air quality improving Thursday, the team felt it was safe to play a twinbill.

Eloy Jimenez hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning off Michael King and the visiting White Sox extended their season-high winning streak to five games with a 6–5 victory over the Yankees in the first game on Thursday afternoon. .

Jake Burger hit a two-run homer before Luis Robert and Yoan Moncada hit solo home runs as the White Sox hit a season-high with four home runs.

Robert, coming in on an 8-for-40 slide, hit three hits and doubled to set up Jimenez’s homer. After Robert reached base to lead off the seventh, Jimenez fired the next pitch off King (1-2) into the Yankees bullpen in center field for his sixth homer.

The Yankees fell to 5-8 this season without slugger Aaron Judge, who was placed on the injured list with a sprained right toe after crashing into the right field fence after Dodger Stadium on Saturday.

Baseball isn’t the only New York area sport to be affected. The New York Giants called organized team activities on Thursday and Friday, while racing at Belmont Park was also canceled two days before the facility is scheduled to host the final leg of the Triple Crown with the Belmont Stakes.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul warned that the Belmont Stakes could be called off if the air quality index exceeds 200 on its scale. If the air quality is 150 to 200, only horses that pass an additional pre-race vet exam are allowed to race.

Dangerous air quality at Yankee Stadium didn’t stop Carlos Rodón from getting some work done on Wednesday

With several members of the Yankees front office watching closely, Rodón threw 20 pitches in a simulated on-field game Wednesday afternoon — the latest step in his long rehabilitation from back problems.

The southpaw faced teammates Jake Bauers and Oswaldo Cabrera under a hazy sky in the Bronx that smelled of smoke from Canadian wildfires disrupting professional sports schedules along the East Coast of the United States.

“It’s a little cloudy out there. It’s not that clear. Visibility isn’t that great. Yes, that was interesting,” Rodón told reporters at the clubhouse. “I was really just focused on trying to throw the ball over the plate. I didn’t think about the breathing part. But yeah, I mean it’s thick air, that’s for sure.’

For a while after Rodón was on the mound, the unhealthy air led Major League Baseball to postpone New York’s game against the Chicago White Sox—along with the Detroit Tigers’ game in Philadelphia.

Lance Lynn made the start for Chicago against Luis Severino on Wednesday afternoon. Mike Clevinger (3-3, 4.13) takes on rookie Randy Vásquez (0-1, 3.86) in Game 2, poised to make his second major league start. New York will add Vásquez to the roster as the 27th man for the twinbill.

“I guess if Major League Baseball is comfortable setting up a doubleheader tomorrow, they have information that it should be better than what it is now, or at least safe,” said Chicago manager Pedro Grifol.

Before leaving the ballpark, several White Sox played catch in the outfield.

Rodón has yet to pitch for the Yankees after signing a six-year, $162 million free agent contract in December. The two-time All-Star started the season on the injured list with a left forearm strain that has healed, but an ailing back has significantly delayed his return.

He has been vomiting painlessly and gradually ramping up since he had a round of injections last month. Rodón said he used all of his pitches on Wednesday and his fastball was clocked at 92-94 mph. He called it “a good start” and “a big step” towards “the end goal of pitching here for the boys.”

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Rodón will likely have to face at least two more hitters before embarking on a minor league rehab assignment. Rodón’s next session is provisionally scheduled for Sunday.

“I tended to almost feel the slope again,” Rodón said. “Hopefully next time I can refine some things and put the ball in the zone a bit more.”

He said he received good feedback from his new teammates.

“Jake said he thought it would work out fine, and I told him I wish I had thrown a few more sliders for strikes,” said Rodón. “I threw a slider for a strike to Oswaldo that was pretty good and then fastballs got in the zone where I wanted and I got a few swings and misses. Good enough for today.’

As scheduled Tuesday night, the Yankees placed slugger Aaron Judge on Wednesday’s 10-day injured list with a sprained and bruised right big toe — backdated to Sunday. The reigning AL MVP was injured Saturday when he slammed into the outfield fence and made a sensational catch at Dodger Stadium.

Judge received a plasma injection of platelets, but the team has not yet set a timetable for his return.

“And I don’t think we’re likely to do that over the weekend. Especially now that he’s had the injection, so he’s in a lot of pain from that,’ Boone said. “So it’s really about getting the swelling out of there, which I’m sure will be over the next few days, and then hopefully have a better sense of the timeline, possibly by the weekend.”

New York called up Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre outfielder Billy McKinney and moved reliever Ryan Weber (right forearm strain) to the 60-day IL.

The 28-year-old McKinney hit .274 with nine home runs, 25 RBIs and an .899 OPS in 40 games at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He was traded by the Yankees to Toronto in July 2018 and re-signed to a minor league contract last December.

“A little defensive flexibility. Been raking for a month and a half now. Playing really well. I kind of deserved the chance,” Boone said.