The news was mostly positive for the Phillies in the first game of Wednesday’s twin bill with the Yankees. They snapped both New York’s seven-game winning streak and a two-game losing streak of their own in what was a mostly encouraging 11-7 victory.

They ran the bases well. They banged out 11 hits. They even produced some clutch at-bats in key situations with runners in scoring position. For a second straight start, Zack Wheeler delivered.

Like I said, it was a mostly encouraging performance – except for one *little* thing.

This f****** bullpen, man.

Let’s get into some observations from the Phils’ game one win over the Yankees on Wednesday afternoon.

A Raging Dumpster Fire

There’s plenty of positives to focus on after this one, so let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first.

Then, we can do the happy things.

One would think that even the Phillies’ collection of ineffective low-leverage middle relievers could put the finishing touches on an eight-run lead in the final frame with relative ease. One would think. But no. Hell no.

Instead, Austin Davis was tasked with preserving an 11-3 lead. He proceeded to record just one out, while allowing a trio of singles and a three-run homer to Aaron Judge.

Good thing they played seven today. That’s all I can I say.

I don’t want to pile on Davis, specifically, but this effort is simply not good enough. It’s not even remotely close to being good enough.

Trevor Kelley created further drama by allowing a pair of Yankees to reach base before striking out Mike Ford for the second out of the inning. Joe Girardi then called on closer Hector Neris to face Miguel Andujar, with the potential game-tying run on deck.

Neris nailed it down with one pitch.

Huzzah!

It’s concerning, nay, it is embarrassing that Neris entered this game, especially in the first half of a doubleheader in which he could very likely be needed in game two.

In total, six of New York’s nine batters during the final inning reached base. It was most definitely *not* nice.

True, the Phillies haven’t had consistent work. Girardi said after Monday’s loss in the Bronx that it would take three or four appearances to fairly judge his guys, and while that is probably fair under normal circumstances, you may have noticed there’s nothing remotely normal about the Phillies’ current circumstances.

Girardi may need to quickly reassess who’s going to hold down the low-leverage roles in this bullpen, while almost trying not to audibly curse the general manager who built it.

The point is, Girardi doesn’t have much more time to observe the efforts he’s gotten from the first guys out of the pen.

Bryce Harper Exits Early

Bryce Harper left the game in the sixth-inning, but he’s in the lineup, playing right field, for game two. Exhale.

 

Bryce Harper Sparks Early (But Late?) Rally

It was only the third inning, but with the final two frames shaved from these doubleheader games and the Phillies down, 3-0, things were quickly getting late. With Andrew McCutchen on first and one out, Harper stepped to the plate and got the Phillies right back into the ballgame:

The 383 ft. blast left Harper’s bat at 97.9 mph, per MLB Statcast, and just as quickly brought the Phillies back into the game against a scuffling J.A. Happ. More impressive was that the homer came on in 0-2 count, a situation Harper struggled in a season ago:

Zack Wheeler Impresses Yet Again

The Yankees entered game one scoring the third-most runs per game in baseball this season. That didn’t seem to matter much to Zack Wheeler.

He worked around a first-inning defensive gaffe by Jean Segura to limit a bases-loaded, no-out threat to just one unearned run.

Wheeler’s lone mistake came on a hanging curveball to Phillie-killer Brett Gardner, but he was outstanding after that. He didn’t allow the Yankees to score over his final four frames of work, and, in fact, he allowed just three total batters to reach base in those innings.

In all, Wheeler only recorded two strikeouts, but induced heavy ground ball contact, totaling 10 outs on the ground throughout his 87-pitch effort.

A Rough First Inning For Jean Segura

It had been a rough start for Jean Segura entering Wednesday and things only got rougher after a forgettable first inning.

With two men on following a pair of walks issued by J.A. Happ, Segura failed to capitalize after weakly popping out to second base for the third out of the inning.

In the bottom of the first, Segura then kicked a JV baseball double play off the bat of Aaron Judge, putting two men on base.

Home plate umpire Angel Hernandez then lost track of the strike zone with Aaron Hicks at the plate, and, suddenly, the bases were loaded.

As noted above, Wheeler minimized the damage by inducing another double play and then getting Mike Ford on a pop out to end the inning. I know Segura almost exclusively took reps at third this summer, but that play can’t happen.

 

Good Talk, Good Talk

I had an opportunity to talk with former Phillies general manager and current television analyst Ruben Amaro Jr. just prior to the start of the season. One of the things he stressed was that he felt the Phillies would be significantly better at the little things this season under Girardi. Among the things Amaro mentioned were communication and base running.

Those improvements were on full display in game one.

Trailing 4-3 with two men on and only one out in the fourth, Brett Gardner stepped to plate. He hit a soft liner to Segura who made the catch and then briefly hesitated. That’s when several Phillies infielders quickly alerted Segura that Kyle Higashioka was lingering off of first base. Segura quickly made the throw across the diamond to complete the inning-ending double play.

Heads Up Stuff

As for the base running, J.T. Realmuto did a great job of helping further spark the Phillies’ third-inning comeback. After Realmuto walked, Jean Segura blooped a soft base-hit over the head of DJ LeMahieu. Alertly, Realmuto noticed second base was unoccupied and didn’t hesitate in taking third as he recognized an errant throw was coming in to the vacant bag. The Phillies would plate another two runs, take a 4-3 lead, and never look back.

In all, Realmuto reached base four times, including this blast:

And, obviously, that’s great. We’ll all clap our hands and get excited over his big-time day at the plate, and for good reason, but I loved the base running. This is the type of shit that sets a tone. Guys in the clubhouse feed off of stuff like this. And that’s exactly what happened in this game. It helped to create a run, revved up the momentum, and things started happening.

Those Drums

You hear those drums today? Here’s a look at the scene from just outside the gates of Citizens Bank Park:

A group calling themselves The Phandemic Krew was out there getting after it during game one.

We’ll see what they have in store for game two.