{"id":629829,"date":"2026-03-18T11:23:35","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T11:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/629829\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T11:23:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T11:23:35","slug":"numerous-spring-training-games-shifted-to-evening-due-to-valley-area-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/629829\/","title":{"rendered":"Numerous spring training games shifted to evening due to Valley-area heat"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX, AZ (AZFamily) \u2014 With nearly a week of First Alert Weather Days<\/a> in the forecast for unseasonably hot weather, some Valley ballparks are delaying start times because of forecast high temperatures.<\/p>\n

\u201cFacing an unprecedented March heat wave, Cactus League ballparks are showing their flexibility in moving some day games to the evening, when the temperatures are expected to be much cooler,\u201d Cactus League Executive Director Bridget Binsbacher said. \u201cThe Cactus League\u2019s No. 1 priority is the health and safety of all involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are the latest schedules as of 12 p.m. on Monday:<\/p>\n

Camelback Ranch-Glendale<\/a>Saturday, March 21 – Athletics at Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a><\/p>\n

While many games are being pushed until the evening, this game will be played earlier, now scheduled for 11:05 a.m.<\/p>\n

Goodyear Ballpark<\/a>Friday, March 20 \u2013 Seattle Mariners at Cleveland Guardians<\/a>Saturday, March 21 \u2013 Chicago White Sox at Cincinnati Reds<\/a><\/p>\n

Gates open at 4:30 p.m. MST on both days, with the first pitch set for 6:06 p.m. Anyone with questions may reach out to the ticket office by emailing tickets@goodyearaz.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hohokam Stadium | Mesa<\/a>Friday, March 20 – Chicago Cubs at Athletics<\/a><\/p>\n

First pitch will be at 6:10 p.m.<\/p>\n

Peoria Sports Complex<\/a>Saturday, March 21 – Chicago Cubs at Seattle Mariners<\/a><\/p>\n

Gates will open at 4:30 p.m. MST, with the first pitch at 6:10 p.m.<\/p>\n

Salt River Fields at Talking Stick<\/a>Thursday, March 19 – San Francisco Giants at Colorado Rockies<\/a>Friday, March 20 \u2013 Milwaukee Brewers at Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a><\/p>\n

Gates open at 4:40 p.m. on both days, with games beginning at 6:10 p.m. <\/p>\n

Sloan Park | Mesa<\/a>Friday, March 20 – Cincinnati Reds at Chicago Cubs<\/a><\/p>\n

Gates open at 4:35 p.m. MST; first pitch at 6:05 p.m.<\/p>\n

Surprise Stadium<\/a><\/p>\n

All three games will now be played at 6:05 p.m. MST, with gates opening at 4:30 p.m. Anyone with questions can visit surprisestadium.com<\/a> or call the box office at 623-222-2222.<\/p>\n

Officials said the MLB Ballpark app should automatically update with the new game time and that no ticket exchanges are necessary.<\/p>\n

Cactus League officials say that some ballparks are adjusting gameday policies to allow fans to bring in water or other drinks. Some facilities will also be providing hydration stations. <\/p>\n

Fans are asked to keep checking the stadiums\u2019 websites<\/a> and social media for updates as spring training schedules and weather conditions change.<\/p>\n

Officials urge fans to stay hydrated before arriving and to drink water during the game. Attendees are also advised to wear sunscreen and hats, and to take breaks in shaded areas.<\/p>\n

Torey Lovullo of the Arizona Diamondbacks said the health of both fans and players must come first.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to make sure that the fans are safe, that we\u2019re safe,\u201d Lovullo said. \u201cHeck, there was a fan that passed out out there today watching the workout. When you start to see that, it\u2019s a real thing. So we\u2019ve got to be mindful of everybody\u2019s health first and foremost.\u201d<\/p>\n

First Alert Weather Days<\/a> have been declared from Tuesday through Sunday due to forecasted temperatures that could reach up to 106 degrees. See the latest forecast here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Salt River Fields General Manager Dave Dunne said staff constantly monitor weather forecasts as temperatures climb. He noted that triple-digit temperatures during spring training are rare.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my 30th spring training in Major League Baseball and I\u2019ve never had a game that\u2019s 100 degrees or more,\u201d Dunne said. \u201cIt\u2019s different. The last five seasons here, we did not play a game in 90-degree heat, so it\u2019s just an anomaly. I think next year it just goes back to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here<\/a> with a brief description.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 KTVK\/KPHO. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX, AZ (AZFamily) \u2014 With nearly a week of First Alert Weather Days in the forecast for unseasonably…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2404],"tags":[146,22,80255,4314,12691,5,38,34819,4,12692,32219,151,75572],"class_list":{"0":"post-629829","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arizona-diamondbacks","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-arizona-diamondbacks","10":"tag-arizona-extreme-heat","11":"tag-arizonadiamondbacks","12":"tag-azfamily","13":"tag-baseball","14":"tag-diamondbacks","15":"tag-goodyear-ballpark","16":"tag-mlb","17":"tag-phoenix-news","18":"tag-salt-river-fields","19":"tag-spring-training","20":"tag-spring-training-in-arizona"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116249929185814381","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}