The Phillies have been fantastic since the All-Star break, going 8-4 and winning their last four in a row in dramatic fashion. Here’s how some of the numbers before and after the break look:

Record RS/G RA/G SP ERA SP Ratio RP ERA RP Ratio
1st half 37-50 4.23 4.55 4.04 1.24 4.76 1.38
2nd half 8-4 4.67 4.58 4.30 1.27 3.86 1.26
Total 45-54 4.28 4.56 4.08 1.24 4.64 1.37

The Phillies have actually allowed more runs per game in their 12 games so far in the second half, but have had much better overall results because they’ve increased their runs scored per game by a lot more than their runs allowed per game has gone up.

The starters have been worse in the early part of the second half. The Phillies have gotten just one quality start in their last six games (Blanton in game three of the set with the Giants), but have gone 4-2 in those games while their starters have thrown to a 6.53 ERA. In those six games they’ve scored about 5.33 runs per game and their bullpen has thrown to a 1.89 ERA. The bullpen has been much better early in the second half, dropping nearly a full run off of their ERA in the 12 games.

The Phillies remain in an enormous hole, mostly because of an ugly stretch of 35 games from early June to mid-July. Here’s a look at what the Phillies did in those 35 games compared to what they’ve done the other 64 (the rest of the season):

Record RS/G RA/G SP ERA SP Ratio RP ERA RP Ratio
6/2 thru 7/13 9-26 4.09 5.34 4.91 1.36 5.11 1.46
Other games 36-28 4.39 4.13 3.64 1.19 4.38 1.31
Total 45-54 4.28 4.56 4.08 1.24 4.64 1.37

Everything went wrong for the Phils over those 35 games — they scored fewer runs and the starters and the relievers were both awful.

The numbers for the games not in that stretch look a lot better for the Phils. Offense is up and runs allowed overall is way down. The starters are good. The bullpen is still a problem, though. A 4.38 ERA with a 1.31 ratio isn’t where you want to be. Had the bullpen thrown to a 4.38 ERA for the year, that mark would still be just 12th best in the NL.

The Phillies pul Polanco on the DL and called up Kevin Frandsen.