The Phillies have scored 70 runs in their last nine games, an average of 7.8 a night.
Bryce Harper is hot. Kyle Schwarber is hot. Trea Turner has hit safely in 18 of his last 20 games with an OPS over 1.000. Alec Bohm has picked it back up after a 10-game cold spell. Brandon Marsh has found a second wind in his return from the injured list.
The bottom of the Phillies' order sparked their first rally both Friday and Saturday night.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
On Friday, Bohm and Marsh were on second and third with two outs when Garrett Stubbs doubled them in and Schwarber followed with an RBI double of his own. The Phils went on to win 7-2.
On Saturday, Marsh singled and Jake Cave walked to turn the lineup over with nobody out in the bottom of the third. Both scored as the Phillies took an early lead in an eventual rout of the Cardinals.
"They've done a great job the whole year," Schwarber said of the bottom of the order. "They've been a steady presence in those spots throughout the year. You really can't say enough about how they've performed every single day. Those guys, I hope they're not being overlooked because they've been so important for us."
The Phillies have the second-best OPS in all of baseball from the 7-8-9 spots, behind only the Braves. Lately, J.T. Realmuto has moved down to the 7-spot because he hasn't been hitting the way Bohm and Stott have.
Philadelphia Phillies
Marsh has steadily hit 7, 8 or 9. He went into Saturday hitting .286/.373/.462. It's the final week of August and he's second on the team to Harper in on-base percentage, trailing only Harper and Nick Castellanos in slugging.
Who would have called that?
"Probably (compared to) when he first got here," manager Rob Thomson said Saturday when asked if he's been surprised by Marsh's offensive production. "But after (hitting coach) Kevin Long made the adjustments with him where he spread him out and kept his head still, started getting the bat head out, now it doesn't really surprise me."
The Phillies seem to be hitting their stride at the right time. They've won the first two series of a nine-game homestand over the Giants and Cardinals. The fledgling Angels, who just placed Mike Trout back on the injured list and lost the pitching version of Shohei Ohtani for the rest of season, come in next.
The Giants and Marlins lost before the Phillies took the field against the Cardinals Saturday. The wild-card race is starting to spread out. The Phillies led the second-place team (Arizona) by three games entering Saturday and were four games better than the first team out.
The Phillies also just have a better roster and fewer holes than the other teams vying for wild-card berths.
The Diamondbacks don't have much pitching behind Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly. Most of the Reds' exciting young players have slowed down. The Marlins can't hit. The Giants have exceeded their talent level most of the year and it's caught up as the schedule has stiffened since the All-Star break.
The Phillies' most difficult portion of the season came early, with three West Coast trips by mid-June and 42 of their first 69 games on the road. They navigated through those sections and really haven't looked back since June 3, going 45-26, a full-season pace of 103 wins.
Despite playing the first month without Harper, all season without Rhys Hoskins, receiving a lesser version of Realmuto than years past and the worst full season of Turner's career, the Phillies are in a pretty good spot entering the final month. Their wild-card lead isn't necessarily comfortable, but it's not uncomfortable either.
"That's what a team is all about," Thomson said. "Especially early in the year when our big guys were just not normal, they were scuffling a bit and (the bottom of the order) kind of carried us.
"These guys don't panic. They keep their poise, they keep battling and having good at-bats. Eventually, it's going to happen. That's what they believe and that's what's been happening."