Underscoring the need for renovations at PNC Field, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees are moving four games to Lehigh Valley and Syracuse while field issues are resolved.
Underscoring the need for renovations at PNC Field, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (Class AAA; International League) are moving four games to Lehigh Valley and Syracuse while field issues are resolved.
The Yankees will play their next two scheduled games on Thursday and Friday against Lehigh Valley at Coca-Cola Park. Both games will start at 7:05 p.m. (Ticket prices for the two games will be at the normal IronPigs rates.) The two games scheduled for Saturday and Sunday versus the Buffalo Bisons have been moved to Alliance Bank Stadium in Syracuse, New York. First pitch times for the two games in Syracuse will be at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday and at noon on Sunday.
The playing field at PNC Field has been a major concern for the Yankees front office this season; as you'll recall, the ballpark featured artificial turf before the 2007 season, so drainage and turf maintenance were not major concerns. The team has looked at some small fixes — like intense aeration and sod replacement — but nothing has worked. Realistically, the solution is the installation of a new drainage system and sod in the offseason, but that doesn't solve anything now.
Giving up a weekend in the prime of the season is a pretty drastic measure, and we're guessing it's not being done for affect. But it certainly adds a lot of credibility to the claims of Mandalay Baseball, Ewing Cole and the New York Yankees that an extensively renovation ballpark — if not a totally new one — is needed in Moosic.
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