Not because there was anything mystical about what happened in Iowa on Thursday night. Not because a trip through the corn suddenly repaired everything that has frustrated the Phillies for much of this uneven summer.
But two days after they overwhelmed the Twins, 7-1, in the Field of Dreams Game, the Phillies carried something with them to Target Field Saturday night: another strong start, another relentless offensive inning and, most importantly, another performance that looked like a team beginning to understand the urgency of its situation.
Philadelphia turned a one-run game into a 9-1 rout with a seven-run fifth inning, an eruption that included contributions from nearly everywhere. Luis Arraez drew a run-scoring walk. Alec Bohm singled home another. Edmundo Sosa drove in two. Then Bryson Stott supplied the exclamation point, launching a three-run homer — his ninth of the season — that pushed the lead to eight.
That is the kind of inning the Phillies have spent too much of the summer waiting to see.
The significance goes beyond one crooked number.
Philadelphia entered Saturday at 65-58 and firmly inside the traffic jam surrounding the National League Wild Card race. The Cubs have created separation at the top, while San Diego, Arizona and Philadelphia have been clustered around the remaining spots. The Padres entered the day at 66-58, with the Phillies and Diamondbacks both 65-58. There is almost no room now for prolonged offensive disappearances or three-game losing streaks disguised as temporary slumps.
Every game is beginning to carry October weight.
And that is what makes the last two performances interesting.
Thursday in Dyersville could have been dismissed as theater. Kyle Schwarber homered twice into the corn. Brandon Marsh homered. Aaron Nola struck out nine over five innings and earned his first victory since May 26. The Phillies soaked in the nostalgia, played one of their cleaner games in weeks and flew to Minneapolis with a 7-1 victory.
Wonderful night. Great television. Nice memory.
Then came Saturday.
No corn. No Hollywood backdrop. No Hall of Famers walking out of an outfield. Just a team fighting for a playoff spot against an opponent with postseason ambitions of its own.
And the Phillies did it again.
Jesús Luzardo gave them exactly what a contender needs from the front of its rotation. He worked into the seventh, allowing only one run while keeping Minnesota from turning the game into the kind of tight, stressful contest that has repeatedly exposed Philadelphia's flaws. The lone run against him came on Royce Lewis' RBI double in the sixth.
There was even a small moment earlier that felt important.
With Philadelphia leading only 1-0 in the fourth, Minnesota threatened to tie the game, but the Phillies executed a relay that cut down the potential tying run at the plate. One inning later, their offense exploded.
That sequence matters.
Good teams do not always bludgeon their way through September. Sometimes they make the defensive play that keeps a game at 1-0, then turn the next opportunity into seven runs.
The Phillies have spent much of the second half searching for consistency. They have had stretches when the starting pitching carried them but the lineup disappeared, nights when the offense produced enough only for another part of the roster to give it back.
Iowa offered a glimpse of everything working together.
Minneapolis offered evidence that it might not have been a one-night phenomenon.
There is still a long way to go. The NL East has become increasingly difficult to chase, leaving the Wild Card as the Phillies' most realistic postseason path. Arizona was also winning Saturday night, and San Diego entered the evening holding the second Wild Card position, so nobody in this race is waiting for Philadelphia to figure itself out.
There was also one late concern Saturday: Trea Turner exited after taking a ball off his leg in the eighth inning, something worth monitoring given how little margin the Phillies have for losing another important player.
But for the first time in a while, the more compelling question surrounding this team is not what is going wrong.
It is whether something is finally going right.
The Phillies walked into the corn Thursday night needing a win.
They may have walked out with something more valuable.
Momentum.
Loading Phillies schedule...
Loading NL East standings...
