In the blink of an itchy, red eye, outfielders were struggling to see flyballs and the crowd were reaching for their face masks.

Not long after, the umpires joined the Canberra Cavalry and Brisbane Bandits managers for a deep and meaningful. Then the players walked off and Saturday night was done.

All will resume on Sunday at 10.30am exactly where it left off - the Bandits leading the Cavalry 6-3 in game three of the series at Narrabundah Ballpark.

It seems the men from Brisbane handled the pea-soup smoke better, turning a 3-2 deficit into a three-run lead after it rolled in on the seabreeze.

Given the unprecedented nature of the bushfires burning the country, and the smoke that's now covering it, the ABL are like most other leagues - wondering how to legislate for the extreme conditions.

Baseball Australia chief executive Cam Vale said once the game has started it's in the hands of the umpires to make a decision about what to do.

He also said an air quality index reading of 300 was being used as a threshold.

They've been consulting other sports to see what they have in place for similar problems.

"We don't have a direct policy, this is somewhat unprecedented as other sports like cricket are finding," Vale told The Canberra Times.

"Our baseball operations general manager Michael Crooks has been consulting other sports and experts.

"We are using in practical terms international guidelines, consulting both teams and the head umpire to determine whether to play, not play or halt."

There were no signs of what was to come when Cavalry third-base Tucker Nathans smashed a home run to open the scoring.

Or when second-base Cam Warner followed suit to make it 3-0.

A Bandits rally cut the lead to one, with Cavalry starting pitcher Kosuke Sakaguchi doing well to minimise the damage after finding himself in trouble several times.

But then the smoke rolled in.

A simple sacrifice fly to centre field suddenly became a problem for Taylor Kohlwey.

He completely lost the ball in the smoke. He motioned to his teammates he had no idea where it was.

Luckily he had time to find it again and complete the catch, but a Bandits base-runner scampered home.

Brisbane took full toll of the worsening conditions, managing to get barrels on balls despite the lack of visibility.

Four runs later and they were in control. Until the management meeting was called.

Cavalry manager Keith Ward spoke to the umpires about the conditions after Kohlwey lost the ball - half an innings before it was called off.

"When that rolled in, bloody hell, my chest was burning and my eyes are still stinging," he said.

"The lucky thing for us is during the day the smoke hasn't been much of an issue and it's really blown in of a night.

"But who knows mate. Tomorrow, depending on which direction it blows, if it's an easterly again then there's likely to be smoke and we'll have to work out what we do after that."

Ward said both teams would have plenty of pitching, with everyone probably available except for the two starters on Saturday night.

The Cavalry are looking to wrap up the smoky series, having won the first two games to draw level with the Bandits on the north-east conference ladder.

A win or two on Sunday will put them ahead of their arch-rivals.

"We'll just play it as it comes tomorrow and see how it goes," Ward said.

"We've got a chance to win a series and see if we can pick up one if not both.

"Apart from Sakaguchi, who started today, we'll have everyone available as I imagine so will they.

"It will be our best against their best and we'll see who comes out on top."

AT A GLANCE

BANDITS 002 4 6R 8H 0E

CAVALRY 120 0 3R 7H 0E