Mark Canha and Jake Lamb hit home runs and Mike Minor threw a two-hit complete game shutout as the A’s beat the Mariners 9-0 in the second game of their doubleheader.
A's manager Bob Melvin didn't know before Monday's doubleheader with the Seattle Mariners if either game, let alone both, would be postponed due to poor air quality.
If there was ever any consideration, Melvin told reporters after the doubleheader's conclusion that the A's weren't consulted.
"No one said a word," Melvin told reporters on a postgame video conference (h/t San Francisco Chronicle's Matthew Kawahara). "I heard 200 (on the Air Quality Index) was the cutoff level to start and my understanding is it was way over that, both games."
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AQI levels in Seattle exceeded 200 all day Monday, as smoke from over a dozen active wildfires in Washington covered much of the state. Levels above 200 are considered very unhealthy, and public-health recommendations call for everyone -- regardless of age group and health conditions -- to limit time outdoors and move physical activity indoors.
The A's and Mariners played both seven-inning games in full Monday, splitting the doubleheader amid a smoky haze. AirNow, a collaboration between federal and local agencies, measured the AQI at 242 in the half-hour before the second game's conclusion.
Pitcher Jesús Luzardo started the first game, and told reporters afterward that he was "gasping for air" due to the air quality. Melvin said some of his players were "starting to feel it" during the second game of the doubleheader.
Reliever Jake Diekman, who didn't pitch in either game, tweeted at MLB after the game asking what its cutoff for air quality is.
RELATED: Lamb officially agrees with A's, could fill third-base void
The A's and Mariners played Monday to make up two of three games from a series that was postponed earlier this month after Oakland pitcher Daniel Mengden tested positive for COVID-19. Oakland and Seattle are scheduled to have a mutual off day on Thursday, but the National Weather Service's air quality alert will remain in effect through then.
Oakland Athletics
The Mariners will play two home games against the Giants over the next two days, while the A's travel to Denver for a two-game set with the Colorado Rockies.
