By Greg Hall, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Prepare for trouble… and make it double.
For the first time in Phillies (1-3) franchise history, the team will be playing a doubleheader comprised of two seven inning games.
Both contests against the New York Yankees (8-1) will be played in a mostly-empty Citizens Bank Park, however, the teams will split home team duties as the Phillies will play the "road" team in the first game and the "home" team for the second. Game one is scheduled to begin at 4:05 with game two starting roughly 35 minutes after the first concludes.
Each will air on NBCSP (tv) and WIP/WTTM1680 (radio) with game one also getting national television coverage on FS1.
While the Yankees have not announced their rotation at the time of this writing (check back for updates before first pitch), Phillies skipper Joe Girardi has lined up RHP Zack Wheeler (game one) and RHP Aaron Nola (game two), his two horses, to start.
These seven inning games may be an advantage for the Phillies; the club's bullpen has been a disaster in the early going, which many experts predicted. The group has surrendered 11 earned runs in just four games, including three in Monday's 6-3 loss that put the Phillies in a 6-1 hole they were unable to climb out of.
However, doubleheaders are something the Yankees have had a ton of success with recently. Last season, the Yankees played in seven doubleheaders; their record in those games was 13-1.
Girardi will have to lean on Wheeler and Nola to go deep into their respective starts, maybe even throw shortened complete games. The Phillies have not won a Nola start in two weeks shy of a calendar year (351 days) and he has only completed seven innings once in his last seven starts. He did, however, throw seven innings in five of the seven starts directly prior to that.
Wheeler looked worth every penny the Phillies spent on him this offseason in his first start, throwing seven innings of one-run ball against the Miami Marlins two Saturdays ago.
That last part is important; neither Nola nor Wheeler has pitched in over 10 days, which may effect their longevity, even in a shortened game.
In any regard, the Phillies offense will need to get it going, especially with runners on base. They average a staggering 8.25 runners left on, fourth worst in the majors.
The four-game series will conclude Thursday at CBP with first pitch scheduled for 6:05; no starting pitchers have been announced for either team.
UPDATE: The Yankees will start former Phillies lefty J.A. Happ in game one. New York's pitcher for the beck end of the doubleheader is still TBD.
