J.A. Happ concerns grow in Yankees loss to Phillies

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Not even the Yankees’ offense could bail out J.A. Happ this time. The struggling left-hander had another shaky start Wednesday in Philadelphia, allowing four runs in just three innings in the Yankees’ 11-7 loss to the Phillies in the first game of a doubleheader. It was the Yankees’ first appearance in a seven-inning doubleheader, a …

Not even the Yankees’ offense could bail out J.A. Happ this time.

The struggling left-hander had another shaky start Wednesday in Philadelphia, allowing four runs in just three innings in the Yankees’ 11-7 loss to the Phillies in the first game of a doubleheader.

It was the Yankees’ first appearance in a seven-inning doubleheader, a new rule instituted in this abbreviated season.

They ended up scoring four runs in the seventh but fell short in a game in which the Yankees served as the home team at Citizens Bank Park, since it was a makeup of Tuesday’s game scheduled for The Bronx that was postponed by Hurricane Isaias.

The loss snapped the Yankees’ seven-game winning streak and was another example of the questions surrounding their starting rotation behind Gerrit Cole and Masahiro Tanaka.

Trailing 11-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Yankees got an RBI hit by Thairo Estrada and a three-run shot by Aaron Judge that got the Yankees within four runs.

One-out singles by Aaron Hicks and Tyler Wade brought Mike Ford to the plate, who was called out on strikes on a questionable call by home plate umpire Angel Hernandez.

Miguel Andujar flied to right to end the game.

The Yankees were in need of a huge comeback in part because for a second straight start, Happ was staked to an early lead and wasn’t able to last deep into the game.

In his first outing, Happ allowed four runs in four innings, but the Yankees escaped with a win in Baltimore last Thursday.

This time, the offense got to ex-Met Zack Wheeler early.

The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, taking advantage of some sloppy play by the Phillies.

Brett Gardner made it 3-0 in the second. Kyle Higashioka had a two-out single and Gardner hit his third homer of the season. Gardner entered the game 5-for-8 with a triple against Wheeler.

Happ entered the game 5-0 with a 1.45 ERA in five career starts against the Phillies and had lasted at least five innings in each start — never allowing more than two earned runs.

That run of success ended Wednesday.

Happ, bedeviled by the home run a year ago, continued his struggles with the long ball in the early going this year. He allowed two in his first outing before Bryce Harper took him deep in the top of the third for a two-run shot to cut the Yankees’ lead to 3-2.

The blast seemed to rattle Happ, who wound up walking six batters in his brief outing.

He walked J.T. Realmuto then gave up a bloop single to Jean Segura. DJ LeMahieu — after chasing the ball down in shallow center — threw wildly back to the infield, allowing both runners to advance. A walk to Scott Kingery loaded the bases for Phil Gosselin.

A four-pitch walk to Gosselin drove in Realmuto to tie the game, and Roman Quinn’s RBI groundout gave the Phillies a 4-3 lead.

The Yankees had a chance to get back in the game in the fourth with a one-out walk by Mike Tauchman and a single by Higashioka. Gardner followed with a soft liner to short and Higashioka was caught off first for an inning-ending double play.

Rookie right-hander Nick Nelson came in to start the fifth and gave up a homer to Realmuto to make it 5-3, then the Phillies poured on six more runs against Nelson — thanks mostly to soft hits — before Luis Cessa got the final out of the sixth in his return to the Yankees after missing the early part of the season with COVID-19.