Phillies stay hot, clobber Braves, 9-3

The Phillies may not be turning heads, but at least they haven't succumbed to the easiest of temptations - packing it in following a seemingly hopeless first half of the season.

On the day Cole Hamels' departure to Texas was made official, the Phillies continued their unexpected second-half turnaround with a 9-3 win over the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park on Friday night.

Entering the evening, the Phillies were tied with the San Francisco Giants for the best winning percentage since the all-star break. After Friday's win, they are now 11-2 (.846) since then.

The Phillies went 13-12 in July, their first winning calendar month since August 2014 when they were 14-12.

It wasn't that long ago that the Phillies were being mentioned in the same breath with the dreadful 1962 expansion New York Mets, who went 40-120.

Friday's win made the Phillies 40-64.

So the Phillies have come a long way, although nobody is deluding themselves. There is an awfully long way to go.

It will take much more than a hot couple of weeks to generate even midlevel enthusiasm, but while going through this painful but necessary rebuilding stage, the players are showing some real fight.

"Everybody is playing pretty darn well," interim manager Pete Mackanin said.

David Buchanan, called up from Lehigh Valley to take the place of the departed Hamels, enjoyed his longest outing of the season, including the minors. He pitched 71/3 innings and left after Freddie Freeman hit an opposite field two-run home to run to left, the 100th round-tripper of his career.

Buchanan allowed three runs on eight hits, striking out four and walking none.

On this team with mainly youngsters, 35-year-old Ryan Howard got the Phillies going with a three-run first-inning double. He was 2 for 3 with four RBIs. Freddy Galvis added a sacrifice fly in the four-run first.

The four first-inning runs were a season high in the opening frame.

Galvis also continues to impress with his glove. In the fourth inning , he went far to his left, fielded an Andrelton Simmons grounder behind second base, spun, and gunned down the Braves shortstop. That's the type of play expected of Simmons, considered the best defensive shortstop in the game.

Domonic Brown, who on Thursday hit his first home run since Sept. 16 of last year, added another, a two-run shot in the fifth.

Over his last nine games, Brown is hitting .424 (14 for 33) with the two homers and six RBIs. Brown will need more than nine games to convince the masses and the Phillies that he remains part of their future, but at least he is making people think.

Before the game, Mackanin talked about how he needed more power from corner outfielders Cody Asche (five home runs) and Brown.

So there is a positive vibe with the Phillies attempting to make the best of a difficult season.