The Phillies have made history turning the NL East into a race again: ‘Just want to keep it going’

The Phillies returned to Citizens Bank Park for Monday’s series opener against the Pirates a season-high 10 games above .500.

It’s a far cry from where they were in April, as they tumbled as far as 10 games under .500 on April 26. But their improbable rebound has made them the first team in baseball history to bounce back from 10 games under .500 to 10 games over .500 before the end of June.

Now, they’ve all but erased their dismal start. At the 84-game mark last year, the Phillies had a 49-35 record, and would go on to finish with 96 wins and win the division. This year, they are 47-37 at the same point.

“This is a 96-win club last year, this is not a club that didn’t show up every day and play every day,” said interim manager Don Mattingly. “You win 96 games, you’re playing good baseball, so nothing that you really didn’t expect to happen is happening. Just want to keep it going.”

Not only that, but the Phillies have closed within three games of the Braves for the lead in the National League East. It’s a gap that was as wide as 10½ games in May.

It’s helped out that the Braves’ early-season dominance has somewhat faltered, with Atlanta posting a 9-13 record so far in June. But the Phillies have managed to capitalize, and a chasm that seemed insurmountable a month ago is shaping into a race again, with two series remaining between the teams in September.

“I wasn’t really looking at Atlanta,” Mattingly said. “I was looking more at us getting back to .500 at first, then to five [games over .500], and then trying to get to 10, and now trying to get to 15, and wherever you end up landing is where you land, but obviously you want to win the division. But still day to day, and so much baseball to be played.”

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Right fielder Adolis García was at the ballpark on Monday to get checked out after undergoing season-ending surgery to repair a torn lat on Wednesday.

García, who signed a one-year, $10 million deal in the offseason, spent time catching up with his teammates behind the batting cage pregame. His rehab is expected to take place primarily at the Phillies’ facilities in Clearwater, Fla.

“He’s just coming in to see where he’s at. He’s had surgery a few days ago, he’s not going to be able to do a whole lot, but it’d be good to see him,” Mattingly said.

The Phillies haven’t officially announced when Andrew Painter will make his next start for triple-A Lehigh Valley, but Mattingly said he expects the righty will remain on a regular schedule.

With the minor leagues having a day off built into their schedule each Monday, that means joining a six-day rotation, which would line up Painter to next appear on Saturday in Rochester.

“Unless they want to move him, or there’s a reason for us to move him to keep him on a certain day to match up with certain guys,” Mattingly said. “So, in general, I think he’s just one of the boys down there and working on his craft and getting it together.”

Mattingly said pitching coach Caleb Cotham’s report was that Painter was OK in his first appearance after getting optioned, in which he allowed one run over four innings.

“Still felt like some of the things that they talked about implementing, he’s starting to be able to do that,” Mattingly said. “We just let it play out now.”

» READ MORE: Phillies won’t rush Andrew Painter’s return to majors. Instead, it’s about ‘getting himself’ right.

Tommy Pham made his first appearance for the Florida Complex League Phillies on Monday after signing a minor league deal with the organization. Pham, who the Phillies picked up as outfield depth after he was released by the Orioles, went 2-for-2 in the Complex League game.

The 38-year-old outfielder has a .256 career average and .764 OPS across 13 seasons and 10 teams. He went hitless in 13 at-bats across nine games with the Mets this April before being released and catching on with the Orioles’ triple-A affiliate.

“I know Tommy from the past; I always liked Tommy, he gives you good at-bats,” Mattingly said. “I don’t know what the plan is other than to see where it goes and how he’s swinging and how he’s performing, and what we need.”

Gabriel Rincones Jr. was back in the lineup Monday against right-hander Braxton Ashcraft after sitting in the series finale against the Mets. Rincones has a .118 batting average in 32 major league at-bats. “[Sunday] was more of a day off, and kind of a little bit of a reset for Rico, see where it goes,” Mattingly said. … Cristopher Sánchez (9-3, 2.13 ERA) is scheduled to start opposite Pirates right-hander Bubba Chandler (3-7, 4.42) on Tuesday.

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Ricky Bottalico spouts opinions each day on sports-talk radio and the Phillies' television pre- and postgame show. But before all that, he had a solid career as a relief pitcher, even representing the Phillies in the 1996 All-Star Game at Veterans Stadium. With the baseball world set to descend on Philly again in a few weeks, Ricky Bo joined "Phillies Extra" to re-live his All-Star experience. Watch here.

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