Turner switches his luck with outstanding week

PHILADELPHIA -- Phillies fans can’t stop standing for Trea Turner.

Turner hit a go-ahead two-run home run to left-center field in the sixth inning in the Phils' 6-2 victory over the Nationals on Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park. It capped a remarkable week for him. Turner is batting .370 (10-for-27) with four doubles, two home runs, eight RBIs and a 1.134 OPS in seven games since last Friday, when he got standing ovations before each of his plate appearances against the Royals.

Months from now, everybody might look back at this week as the turning point in Turner's season.

"I would love to keep playing what I think is me and how I’ve played for a while now in my career," Turner said. "I’ve kind of hopefully put those first 100 games behind me. And [now I can] just keep going and playing baseball like I can.”

Turner returned to Philadelphia last Friday following a nightmarish seven-game road trip during which he: fell from second to seventh to eighth in the lineup; batted .103 (3-for-29) with one double, three walks and eight strikeouts; and committed a couple costly errors that contributed to losses in Pittsburgh and Miami.

Everything has looked and felt different since.

“Maybe it’s the crowd, maybe it’s a little bit better swing, maybe it’s better pitches, maybe I’m relaxed,” Turner said. “I don’t know if there’s one specific thing. I think just everything as a whole is in a better direction, better shape.”

“He looks like Trea Turner, and that’s good,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.

Nick Castellanos has been on a tear, too. He hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning to give the Phillies a 4-1 lead. Castellanos is batting .302 (13-for-43) with six homers, 12 RBIs and a 1.039 OPS in his past 10 games. It has been a dramatic turnaround after he batted .122 with a .349 OPS in 22 games from July 4-31.

“For the most part, he’s using the middle of the diamond,” Thomson said. “For the first three at-bats, he didn’t. And then finally with the home run he hit it to left-center, he used the [whole] field. And that’s where his strength is.”

J.T. Realmuto hit a two-run homer in the seventh to make it 6-1.

The Phillies (64-52) have homered 17 times in their past six games. It helps explain why they have won eight of their past 11 games to improve to a season-high 12 games over .500. They have a 1 1/2-game lead over the Giants for the first NL Wild Card spot, which is important because the top Wild Card will host a best-of-three series in the first round of the playoffs. They also have a 4 1/2-game lead over the Cubs and Reds, who are tied for fourth in the NL Wild Card race.

“That’s really who these guys are,” Thomson said about the Phillies’ recent homer barrage. “They’re a slug team. You’re seeing it now. I hope it keeps up.”