The Phillies finally appear to be back in control, as they originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

They are now eight games ahead in the division, have regained the best record in the National League, and the Phillies seem to have finally turned things around at home this week.

Maybe at the end of the season, Wednesday’s team meeting and Kyle Schwarber’s grand slam will be remembered as a turning point for a team that spent most of the summer with baseball’s best record. Maybe it will be irrelevant a week from now if they suffer another slip-up.

Having to face mediocre left-handed Nationals pitchers helped, but the Phillies seem to have regained their confidence.

Trea Turner, who led them off the field on Friday, has hit 7-for-10 with two doubles and three RBIs in the last two games after posting a .165 batting average and .200 on-base percentage in the previous 21 games, and his slump has been a big part of the team’s dip in form.

Bryce Harper has a batting average of .362 in his last 12 games.

Alec Bohm has reached base in 33 consecutive games and has a safe hit in 16 of the last 17 games. He has scored six runs in the last five games.

Nick Castellanos has been on a roll this month, posting a .302 batting average with an .877 OPS since the All-Star break.

JT Realmuto is slowly getting back into form and has gone 8-for-25 with three doubles and a home run in his last seven games after going 8-for-45 without an extra-base hit in his first 12 games back from the injured list.

Weston Wilson has emerged as a potentially important option in right outfield with Austin Hays out with a hamstring injury and Brandon Marsh struggling. Even ignoring Wilson’s cycle on Thursday, he has a .290 batting average since being recalled from Triple A in mid-July.

Another important aspect of the last two nights was, of course, the starting pitching. Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola dominated a weak Nationals lineup, allowing just one run in 12⅔ innings. For Wheeler, it was more of the same. For Nola, it was a welcome sign after struggling with the lead for most of the previous month.

The Phils finish their home stretch this weekend with Cristopher Sanchez starting Saturday against the Nationals and Taijuan Walker starting Sunday. Sanchez will be hoping to rebound after allowing career-highs in runs (7) and hits (12) on Sunday in Arizona.

The Nats start Saturday with another left-hander, Mackenzie Gore, who has been beaten up in his last seven starts. He allowed 31 runs in 29⅓ innings and allowed 2.2 baserunners per inning, a huge number. Jake Irvin, who himself has a 6.23 ERA in his last seven starts, pitches Sunday.

This home game was by far the Phillies’ weakest phase of the rest of the season. Six weeks left:

20-25. August: in Atlanta (3), in Kansas City (3)

August 26 – September 1: vs. Houston (3), vs. Atlanta (3)

3rd-8th September: in Toronto (2), in Miami (4)

9th-15th September: vs. Tampa Bay (3), vs. NY Mets (3)

September 16-22: in Milwaukee (3), at NY Mets (4)

September 23-29: against Cubs (3), in Washington (3)

Next week’s opponents, the Braves and Royals, are battling for their playoff chances. Both currently hold the third and final wild-card spot in their respective divisions. The Braves are just one game ahead of the Mets, and the Phillies have six games left against Atlanta and seven against New York, so they will help decide whether a second NL East team makes the playoffs.

The three games in Milwaukee at the end of September could also be decisive. The Phillies have half a game more home advantage in the NL than the Dodgers and two games more than the Brewers. The top two seeds get a bye in the wildcard round, so it makes a big difference whether they end up as the 2nd or 3rd seed.

But before all that comes into play, the Phillies need to finish the weekend strong. The Nationals have lost 15 of 23 games and are simply playing out the series. The Phillies have done a good job the last two nights of catching an inferior team off guard early, scoring four runs in the first inning on Thursday and two in the third on Friday. That was a constant theme in the first half that disappeared for two weeks after the All-Star break, but with the top of the standings regaining momentum, the worst appears to be over.