What a story the month of August has been for Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner. Turner had sunk to a lowly .657 OPS at the beginning of the month. All year, Philly fans have been upset with his underperformance as the team continued to trail the Atlanta Braves in the NL East. Then, one Friday night, Turner received a standing ovation at Citizens Bank Park and everything changed. Since the “ovation game” on Aug. 4, Turner is hitting .368 with nine home runs, nine doubles and 26 RBIs. His OPS is now nearly 100 points higher.

The Phillies are 17-10 in the month of August, after starting the second half 9-8. They've actually lost ground to the Braves in that stretch, which is brutal, but Philadelphia fans are loving the improvement so far. The team hit 59 home runs in August, a franchise record. Bryce Harper hit his 300th career home run Wednesday and received another epic ovation from the fans.

The Phillies lost Wednesday's game to the Los Angeles Angels to close out a great month, but spirits are high in the clubhouse. “I just think the fun we’re having,” Trea Turner said, per the Athletic. “We’re on a good roll. I know today is a little bit of a hiccup, but I feel we’re playing really well. The fans are behind us all the time and showing up. I feel like it’s good vibes at the park each and every day.”

Bryce Harper echoed Turner's sentiment about the energy of this ball club. “I just love being a Phillie, plain and simple,” he said. “It’s something I dreamed about — this fan base, this city. I love them, plain and simple. I feel like I’m part of this family. There’s nothing like it.

It's important to keep positivity up late in the grueling 162-game MLB schedule, and it's hard to do. Everyone's banged up, it's the peak of the summer, and the pressure of the postseason race is on. The Phillies are doing a great job of that as they enter the home stretch of the season.

Philadelphia still trails the Braves by 13 games, so winning the division is out. The Braves are on pace to win 106 games, so at a certain point, you just have to tip your cap to their incredible season. If the Phillies are to find themselves in the World Series once again, it looks like they're going to have to overcome Atlanta's home field advantage.