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 rece

See Full Page