Phillies by the numbers: Bats, bullpen addition helped build NL East lead in August

August was a very good month for the Phillies. They opened with nine interleague games during a 21-consecutive-game stretch against American League teams that started in July and took two of three from the Detroit Tigers, who have the AL's best record.

The Phils went 18-11 in August – 12-4 at Citizens Bank Park – including sweeps of the Rangers and Mariners, and shook off another embarrassing sweep in Queens to the Mets by taking three of four against the Braves to end the month. They entered August just a half-game ahed of the Mets in the National League, built a 7-game lead that was whittled down to 4 after the sweep, and then ended the month still up 6 games.

September will present its challenges, as the Phillies are without Zack Wheeler for the rest of the season after the ace recently underwent surgery to remove a blood clot near his right shoulder and also thoracic outlet surgery, and with six road games to start the month and a West Coast trip to face the Dodgers and Diamondbacks. 

The Phils will also play 15 games in 15 days, starting Wednesday when their three-game series against the MLB-leading Brewers resumes in Milwaukee with Game 2. But the Phils are already off to a good start, rallying back from an early 4-0 hole on Monday in the opener to emerge with a 10-8 win.

Let's recap an important August that saw the Phillies go from 14 games above .500 to 21 games over.

Batting

The Phillies flexed their power muscle in August, and finally found a cleanup hitter in J.T. Realmuto after several swings and misses in the first half. They also ranked top-five in the NL in batting average, slugging percentage, homers, runs scored and stolen bases for August.

Kyle Schwarber, typically "Mr. June," turned into the "King of August," with a 12-homer, 33-RBI month. He tied for most homers in the majors in August while his 33 RBIs ranked first. Bryce Harper also turned in 7 HRs and 18 RBIs in the month.

Here's how the Phillies' offense performed in August compared to the rest of MLB and NL:

Starting rotation 

We'll see what kind of impact Wheeler's loss makes in September and beyond, but the Phillies' rotation remained excellent as it has been for most of the season. The rotation posted its second-best team ERA of the season in August – June was just ridiculous and basically unsustainable – along with its best second-best WHIP.

Left-hander Cristopher Sánchez showed that he can move into the ace role to replace Wheeler with an outstanding August that ranked among the best in baseball. Here's how he compared to other MLB starters in August:

Bullpen 

The addition of closer Jhoan Duran at the trade deadline paid immediate dividends and drastically improved late-game situations for the Phillies, who successfully saved 71 percent of their August opportunities, which would be their best percentage of the season if not for an outlier May in which they converted 12 of 14.

The Phillies converted just half – HALF! – of their save opportunities combined in March, April, June and July before finally adding the Durantula in a deal with the Minnesota Twins.

Imagine how many more games the Phillies would've won before August had they found a reliable ninth-inning arm. The Durantula entrance experience at Citizens Bank Park has electrified the crowd, and it only promises to get more intense as we move closer to Red October. 

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