The regular season is coming to a close in the MLB and the playoff races in both the American League and National League are heating up. The Philadelphia Phillies are one of the teams involved in the NL wild card chase, and it's going to be a tight finish. Right now, the Phillies are 71-58 and own the top wild card spot. They are 13.5 games back of the first place Atlanta Braves in the NL East, so it's wild card or no playoffs for Philadelphia. The Phillies are in a really good spot right now as they are 3.5 games up on the Chicago Cubs, who are the closest team to Philadelphia in the wild card standings. Part of the reason for the Phillies good placement has been due to their stellar play in August. In fact, it's actually been a record breaking month for the franchise.
On Saturday, the Phillies obliterated the St. Louis Cardinals, 12-1, and a three-run shot by Nick Castellanos set the Phillies record for most home runs in a single month, according to a tweet from ESPN Stats & Info. That homer was the 47th of August for Philadelphia. The Phillies also hit another home run after that and still have four more games in the month. It looks like that old record is going to be beaten by a lot.
If the Phillies continue to swing the bats like they have in August for the rest of the season, they shouldn't have any issue staying in the top wild card spot. If the Phillies continue to swing the bats like this into the postseason, they might find themselves back in the World Series.