Phillies are back over .500 and seem to have figured it out

It was less than a month ago that the Philadelphia Phillies found themselves 10 games under .500, near the bottom of the National League East and on the verge of firing manager Rob Thomson (which they eventually did). It was too early to completely write them off for the season, but there was definitely reason for some concern.

Maybe even a little panic.

That is no longer the case.

Thanks to their 6-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, the Phillies not only completed a weekend sweep and won their sixth series in a row, but they also climbed back over the .500 mark for the first time since they were 6-5 back on April 7.

They are finally starting to look like the team they were supposed to be.

Phillies finally figuring it out this season

Since the Phillies reached their low-point of the season on April 26, which was the game that led to the firing of Thomson, they have gone 15-4 in the 19 games that followed, including the three wins this weekend.

What is impressive about the sweep in Pittsburgh is not just the fact they won all three games and got back over the .500 mark, but also the way they did it.

On Friday, they erased deficits of 6-0, 8-3 and 8-5 (in the ninth inning) to complete a wild comeback, and then on Sunday, they got the best of reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes in a way that almost no team has in his three-year career. Skenes was on the hook for five runs in his five innings of work, raising his ERA from 1.98 entering the day to 2.62 when he was finished for the game. 

The manager switch from Thomson to Don Mattingly is the obvious line in the sand for when things turned around, but it largely just comes down to their best players playing up to their capability.

Kyle Schwarber has a 1.047 OPS and 14 home runs over the past 30 days.

Bryce Harper has a .963 OPS and eight home runs over that same stretch.

Zack Wheeler, Sunday's winning pitcher, is back in the rotation and now has a 1.99 ERA since making his season debut on April 25. He went seven shutout innings on Sunday, following up Saturday's gem from Cristopher Sanchez where Sanchez threw a complete-game shutout that saw him walk none, strike out 13 and allow just six hits. His ERA is also under 2.00 for the season.

When your two best hitters and two best pitchers are dominating to that degree, things are going to turn around. Rapidly. 

That has been the case for the Phillies. 

There is still a lot of season to be played, but they seem to be back on track and have a chance to keep building on this recent hot streak. It was too early to write them off in late April. You definitely should not be writing them off now.