Be honest.
Three weeks ago you were done with this team. You said it out loud. Probably in a group chat. Probably in all caps.
And now?
The Phillies just put up the best record in baseball in August. 21-7. Won 13 of their last 15. Took the series in Arizona with a 2-1 win Monday night off a Bryson Stott solo shot — a game that had absolutely no business being that stressful, but this is Philly, so of course it was.
We are so back. Which means we're all in danger.
The Situation
Here's where we're at: 78-60. Four back of Atlanta. Sitting in a Wild Card spot with a 5.5-game cushion, which means the floor is October baseball.
But nobody in this city cares about the floor.
Because Thursday, the Braves walk into Citizens Bank Park for four games. September 4 through 7. Then three more in Atlanta the weekend after. Seven head-to-head games with the division sitting right there.
Four back with seven left against them. You don't need a calculator. You need a 5-2 stretch minimum, and you need CBP to be the loudest building in America for four straight nights.
It will be. It always is when it matters.
Cristopher Sánchez Is the Best Pitcher You're Still Not Talking About Enough
16-4. 2.62 ERA.
That's not a good season. That's an ace season. That's the guy you hand the ball to in Game 1 and feel weirdly calm about, which is a feeling Philly fans are biologically not equipped to handle.
The changeup is a crime. Hitters know it's coming and it doesn't matter. He's been automatic at home all year, and the fact that national media is still leading with other teams' rotations is genuinely perfect for us. Let them sleep. They'll learn in October like they always do.
What This Week Actually Feels Like
This is the part of the season where every pitch matters and your heart rate knows it before you do.
Thursday night at CBP against the Braves is going to feel like a playoff game because it basically is one. The building's going to be electric. The bullpen's going to make at least one inning way scarier than it needs to be — that's not a prediction, that's a law of nature.
And somewhere around the seventh inning of Game 2, this entire city will have decided we're either winning the division or completely cooked. Possibly both. Possibly in the same inning.
That's the deal. That's what we signed up for.
The Honest Take
This team spent half the summer making us question everything, then ripped off the best month in baseball like it was nothing. That's the most Phillies thing imaginable. Suffering first, delusion second, then the delusion starts looking… correct?
Four back. Seven games against them. Ace dealing. Building rocking.
If you're not walking into this weekend with completely irrational confidence, are you even from here?
See you Thursday. Get there early. Stay loud.
We might win the division.
We might be cooked by Sunday.
There is no third option.
