The Phillies had the Marlins beat last night, and the big story this morning should be Rhys Hoskins.

On a career night during which he recorded four hits, knocked in six runs and provided what could have been a second game-winning hit in as many days, Hoskins was a showstopper. And while his incredible effort remains noteworthy following a dismal 11-9 loss, Hoskins isn’t the story this morning.

If you’ve been paying attention to the Phillies at all this season, you didn’t even need to watch the finish to know why.

This past offseason, the Phillies paid Corey Knebel and Jeurys Familia a combined $16 million to solidify what remains a still-raging dumpster fire of a bullpen, and for their investment, they’ve received little competence and plenty of pain.

Against the Marlins Tuesday night, they received one total out from the two relievers, who combined to allow seven of the eight batters they faced to reach base and six of those baserunners to score. It was a disaster.

Rolling out fat ERAs and juiced up WHIPs to wrap numbers around the mess they’ve too often made doesn’t adequately tell the tale of just how bad the two relievers have been this season, so let’s try it a different way.

Per MLB Statcast, the Phillies began the top of the seventh inning with a 95 percent win probability. Of course, I tweeted this out in-game, and Ducis Rodgers of 6abc captured the spirit of the moment best:

Familia needed just 17 pitches to light most of the Phillies’ four-run seventh-inning lead on fire before Seranthony Dominguez surrendered his first run in 15 appearances, a run which tied the game.

Dominguez picked a tough time to end his scoreless streak, but it happens. Familia though? Different story. The latest implosion during a consistently poor season brought these results: double, walk, lineout, three-run homer.

What. A. Sequence.

As he departed from the mound at Citizens Bank Park, Familia was lustily booed. There were some “You sucks!” and other pleasantries mixed in there too.

And yet, his nightmarish appearance wasn’t even the worst of the night by a Phillies reliever.

Current (and I stress current) closer Corey Knebel, who turned a Hoskins’ go-ahead homer in the eighth inning into a mere footnote thanks to his latest ninth-inning meltdown, landed just four of 16 pitches for strikes.

His evening ended after four batters and before he could record an out. Mercifully, Phillies manager Rob Thomson took the ball from Knebel with the bases loaded, no outs on the board, and a run across with the game tied, 9-9.

https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1536902005352017922?s=20&t=0QyIZLvlh0LW8ZelrNagKA

Reliever Andrew Bellatti recorded the first out of the inning unscathed and looked poised to get the second out on a foul out behind home plate, but catcher J.T. Realmuto dropped the ball, giving Miami’s Jesus Aguilar new life. He promptly doubled to right field, beating the limited range of Nick Castellanos.

All of the Phillies’ shortcomings were on display during the ninth inning collapse, but that their defensive issues even came into play comes back to the $16 million failed investments in Familia and Knebel.

Familia at $6 million always felt like a head-scratcher given his underwhelming recent track record. Knebel at $10 million felt pricey but reasonable — not even the most pessimistic projection of his season saw this coming.

On Monday, the Phillies decided to move on from reliever James Norwood. A strong case could be made to follow suit with Familia. Hell, they could throw the struggling José Alvarado into the mix, too.

Don’t hold your breath on either happening. A limited bullpen with no depth typically doesn’t undergo such a drastic change in June, but the Phillies must do something, and something probably starts with removing Knebel as closer.

Just a hunch, but I don’t think you will see him in a save situation for the foreseeable future.

Hoskins Goes Off

A night after capping a thrilling late-inning comeback with his first-career walk-off RBI, Rhys Hoskins delivered quite the encore performance.

Those who believe in “the baseball gods,” know there are certain things they simply will not condone. Such things include issuing six walks through the first four innings of a game. That type of generosity typically won’t play, and that’s why it was particularly mystifying to watch the Phillies fail to deliver a knockout blow to Marlins starter Trevor Rogers in the early innings last night.

But those who continue to test the gods know that, in time, punishment is inevitable. In the fourth inning, Hoskins ensured Rogers would finally get what had been coming to him.

After Matt Vierling and Kyle Schwarber each reached base with two away, Hoskins delivered a massive three-run shot to left field that brought the Phillies even.

https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1536871164676546561?s=20&t=0QyIZLvlh0LW8ZelrNagKA

An inning later, with the Phillies now leading by a 6-4 score, Hoskins would extend the temporary lead to four runs with a two-run double, the 500th hit of his career.

Two innings, two at-bats, five runs batted in. Efficient, but he wasn’t done just quite yet.

With the game tied at 8-8 following Familia’s meltdown, Hoskins delivered a go-ahead solo blast to give the Phillies a 9-8 lead, capping his night by tying a career-high in both hits (four) and RBI (six).

https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1536896056323149824?s=20&t=d6fKurz3HPPto0wdcqGMEg

We’ve seen Hoskins get on these streaks in the past, and it looks like he’s in the middle of a white-hot one right now.

Through five games of the Phillies’ current homestand, Hoskins has used an 11-for-20 stretch which includes seven extra-base hits to jolt his average from .221 to .249 while also lifting his OPS from .706 to .809.

Eflin Battles, But Injury Concern Looms

Why the hell are they taking him out?

You said it at home. I thought it in the press box.

Five days after Zach Eflin needed 96 pitches to complete four innings against the Brewers, he needed 25 pitches to record the first three outs against the Marlins. Unlike last Thursday, however, Eflin, who entered the game with a 1.16 ERA in five home starts this season, couldn’t escape early trouble.

But he would rebound, setting down the last 13 batters he faced to salvage his night and put the Phillies in great position to secure a rare series victory over the Marlins. He needed just 55 total pitches to complete his final five innings of work.

While the rush to get to Familia felt insane, both in real time and in hindsight, it turns out that Eflin began to feel some discomfort in his surgically repaired knee. As a precaution, the Phillies ended his night early and will conduct further evaluations today.

After the game, Eflin seemed confident he wouldn’t miss time. Hold your breath.