Giants, Athletics play baseball under daunting orange sky amid raging California wildfire

Despite much of the Northern California region reeling due to the numerous cases of wildfires, baseball sides San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics played their respective home games on Wednesday, albeit under a peculiar orange blanket.  A direct result of the numerous wildfires in the region, Giants home stadium - Oracle Park - and the A's stadium - the Oakland Coliseum - featured a daunting background taken straight out of a horror movie. Fans on social media dubbed it as the 'first-ever games on Mars.'

The thick smoke from the wildfire covered the sky which appeared orange due to the sun glowing in the backdrop. For most MLB fans, it signalled that Wednesday's games would be postponed due to the weather. Gabe Kapler, manager of the Giants, who faced Seattle Mariners on Wednesday, described the weather to NBC Sport: "I think we're always monitoring air quality. Certainly, it was a strange look when we all woke up this morning and found the orange-ish/red hue to the sky. Walking onto the field today (for practice) was certainly different, in the middle of the afternoon and having the sky look a little bit dark."

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Kapler was confident that the air quality was not hampered much by the smoke and MLB games will be played as scheduled. Per reports, the Air Quality Index in the area showed a moderate score of 90, which only improved as the day progressed. 

The Houston Astros, who were in San Francisco for their series against the A's, were greeted by a similar atmosphere. "I was actually playing Jimi Hendrix today: 'The Sky is Crying.’ The sky was crying today,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said explaining the atmosphere before the game. "It was orange. I thought I was going to go outside and see Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now. It’s a strange and eerie feeling.”

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The Giants beat the Mariners 10-1 on Wednesday to take a 2-0 lead in the series. Mike Yastrzemski starred for San Francisco, registering 2 hits, 5 RBIs and a three-run homer, which also got the scoreboard ticking for the Giants. The unsettling atmosphere did not bother the home side as batters Evan Longoria, Joey Bart, and Mauricio Dubón, all registered 2 hits to notch an impressive win. 

Meanwhile, at the Oakland Coliseum, the Athletics scored a close 3-2 win over Houston. The A's claimed their MLB-leading fifth walk-off win. Ramon Laureano found the gap in the left centre in the bottom of the 9th inning, sending in Tommy La Stella to break the tie, giving Oakland a close win over their nearest AL West division rivals. 

Why is California on fire?

In addition to California, Oregon and Washington continue to suffer from the increasing number of wildfires. Experts have credited climate change as the major contributing factor to the numerous cases of wildfire. The state of California has witnessed more than 900 wildfires since August 15, most of them starting with lightning strikes. So far, at least seven people were pronounced dead in wildfires in the three regions. The high winds fueled by recent heatwaves mean the situation took a turn for the worse on Wednesday. Officials in the respective regions are deploying immediate evacuation.  

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(Image Credits: AP)