Clearwater, Fla., February 26, 2013 – The biggest upset that took place at the Yankees/Phillies game Tuesday, even for a Yankee fan, was not that the home-standing Phils pulled off a 4-3 win on the strength of a two-home-run seventh inning off a nonroster invitee pitcher. Rather it was that they not only played the game following torrential morning rains, but did so on time, with no interruptions, amid nary a drop of afternoon rain.

For the fourth straight game to start their Spring campaign, the Yanks handed the ball to a young pitcher not likely to be part of their April rotation, but righthander Jose Ramirez pitched well, as did most of the visiting hurlers all day. His two innings were followed by one frame apiece by veterans David Robertson and Joba Chamberlain. Joba was sharp with back-to-back K’s, though he did allow Ryan Howard’s soft fly ball single to right center for the first Phillie hit with two down in the fourth.

But nonroster invitee righthander Jim Miller ran into a little trouble in the home fifth, twice failing to put hitters away against whom he had jumped to an 0-2 count. Jimmy Rollins fought back to a one-out, seven-pitch walk, and moved up 90 feet on a fielder’s choice back to the box when the ball initially caromed off Miller’s glove. Kevin Frandsen, who played second even though Chase Utley was listed as the starter, doubled Rollins in on an 0-2 offering, just the second hometown hit in five frames.

This tied the game 1-1, as the Yanks had taken a 1-0 lead in the first off Kyle Kendrick. Ichiro Suzuki, once again performing at what seemed to be a higher rpm than the rest of the players, stroked his first of three singles, stole second, and scored on a slashing Mark Teixeira double into the right-field corner. The Yankees threatened in every inning, attested to by their 12-5 lead in hits. Righty outfield/DH candidate Matt Diaz singled in the second and had second base stolen, but he was called out because Melky Mesa stumbled into the path of catcher Steven Lerud’s throw to the bag, as Mesa struck out. Next time up, Diaz’s bad-luck, opposite-field liner found Howard’s glove at first; Ryan doubled DH Travis Hafner off first, ruining what had been a two-on, no-outs opportunity.

With the score tied through six, both teams made a host of position player changes, to the benefit of each. With one down in the seventh Yankee center fielder Adonis Garcia singled up the middle, and catcher J.R. Murphy homered to dead center off Zach Minor two pitches later, 3-1 Yanks.

But the visitors also had brought a Zach, and nonroster invitee pitcher Nuding, their Zach, pitched the bottom of the seventh. He, too, got ahead 0-2 in the count to left fielder Dominic Brown, one of four Phillies to play the whole game. Nuding missed three times, got a foul, then Brown smashed the first of two no-doubt-about-it shots of the frame; the Yankee lead was down to one run. One out later Yankee left fielder Thomas Neal tracked Cody Asche’s drive that was tailing away from him into the corner. It glanced off Neal’s glove for a double, a play that should have been made. When Tommy Joseph, pinch-hitting for catcher Lerud, followed with a long homer to left, the Phils had a 4-3 lead.

Bizarrely, following a Freddy Galvis strike out, John Mayberry came up to the plate, even though there were three outs. Home plate ump David Soucy missed it, but Yankee skipper Joe Girardi did not, and sanity was restored. During this time the scoreboard operators were fixing the posted Phillies hit total from six to the five they actually recorded: not many but enough, as four led to runs. It’s “Spring,” and we’re all in “Training.”

Neither team scored in the eighth, but the Yanks were not done. Neal, trying to atone for the noncatch that led to a run, led off the ninth with a long drive, but it was to the wrong part of the park, and was caught. One out later, Murphy represented the Yanks’ last chance. John Sickels of “The Baseball Prospect Book” had this comment on Murphy: “Defense is improving but bat seems stagnant. Still has time at age 21 [22 in May 2013] to grow into his potential.”

Murphy drilled lefty Jeremy Horst’s 1-1 pitch to center, a liner as hard hit as his earlier home run, but without the height. It hit the base of the wall, and J.R. eased into second base. Had a needed game been on the line, might Girardi have pinch-run for him? He didn’t, and third baseman Walter Ibarra hit a liner into the hole between first and second. Kevin Fields at first made a game-saving diving stop, but Horst failed to cover. Ibarra reached, and Murphy crossed to third. A speed burner may have scored. Who knows? Cito Culver flied out to right, with Murphy 90 feet from home. The game was over.

But Murphy wielding a “stagnant bat”? Hardly.

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!