Home runs from Trea Turner, and Bryce Harper leads the Phillies to a 6-4 victory over the Angels

Trea Turner doesn’t express his feelings very often on the field, especially when he’s getting around the bases. But when he crossed home plate after laying Phillies Before the second inning of the home game Monday night, he patted Bryce Harper on the chest and smiled.

Hittin season?

More like Homer’s season.

The scene has become familiar. Having already set the franchise record for homeowners in one month, the Phillies crushed three others en route to a 6-4 victory over the Shohei Angels before 38,142 paying customers at Citizens Bank Park.

Read more: Bryce Harper ‘excited’ about Angels’ Shuhei Ohtani, soon-to-be unique free agent

“Early in the year, we were hitting really well, but we didn’t hit a homer,” Turner said. “We knew he was there.”

Turner’s solo homer in the first inning and a second runner in the fifth against Angels starter Lucas Giolito blocked Harper’s two-run shot in the fourth—the 298th of his career—after Turner worked the lead off with a walk.

Make it 28 players in their last 11 games and 52nd overall in August for the Phillies, attacking Broad Street as they build. Kyle Schwarber leads the team with nine teammates this month. Harper and Nick Castellanos have eight. Turner seven.

When the month began, the Phillies were ranked 21st in the majors in the crawler competitions. They have risen to 13th after finishing fourth in the list of most home runs in a month by any team this season.

No wonder they won four straight games and six of seven to extend their lead to four first-place games and a home series in a best-of-three wild card round.

Timing is the best part of the Phillies’ strength flexibility. The Yankees smashed 53 homers in May but they couldn’t keep that high. The Phillies’ run reaches its climax with the arrival of the extended run. If they can continue to take advantage of the momentum, they will be dangerous in October.

“If you have to pick a World Series every year, I always pick a wild card team just because you have to play really well over the last month or two weeks and continue that into the post-season,” Turner said. “Year after year there is a wild card team that goes really far in the postseason and is really dangerous. Wild card teams are scary.

» Read more: Phillies along the stretch: Game 3 starters, first base plan — and will they power play in the playoffs?

The Phillies can be absolutely intimidating as long as their best players play like their best players. Not so for much of the season, when youngsters Bryson Stott, Alec Baum and Brandon Marsh were the team’s most consistent hitters.

And now? Harper, who suffered from a career-long homer drought earlier in the season, is batting . 360 and slugging . 742 in August despite playing through a stiff back; Turner, who started the month at the worst of his career, batting . 313, batting . 606, and returning to second place as manager Rob Thompson wanted him all along.

“It’s just a tria,” said Thompson. “He’s a mixture of base and slug. If he hits the slug, we collect points, if he hits base, you’ll have the slug behind him too. He makes the line-up very dangerous when he does what he does. He swings the bat really well. He plays great defense too.

In fact, perhaps Turner’s biggest play in the game came with his glove. With the bases loaded in the first inning against rookie Taijuan Walker, he saved at least one run by catching Logan O’Hoppe’s hard to the hole on shortstop.

“That would have been a huge change of momentum,” Turner said. “He could have scored two goals there, and it’s a different game. Being out there with just one run was a huge boost for us.

“Trey has turned things around, playing like the player we all know,” Walker said.

Just in time.

» Read more: Phillies along the stretch: Game 3 starters, first base plan — and will they power play in the playoffs?

Shuhei silenced

Leading by one run in the eighth inning, the Phillies allowed left reliever Gregory Soto to lead off Shuhei Ohtani.

“I loved the match,” said Thompson.

Soto rewarded Thompson’s faith. He got Ohtani to hit a bunt to first base and hit the Fleet-footed batter in the bag to take the flip off Harper.

Ohtani finished 1-for-4 with one intentional walk and was stuck at 44 batters.

Walker survived

Walker hit the 24-pitch first inning and scored twice in the sixth. He allowed three runs on eight hits and walked two walks to limit the damage.

It was Walker’s second start since the 10-day break to deal with arm fatigue. It was even more intense last week against the Giants. But he also got out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and stranded two outs in the third and fourth innings.

Read more: Before Shuhei Ohtani, Michael Lorenzen wanted to be a two-way player. But he found his calling as a start.

Mickey is fine

Playing against the Phillies for the first time since being traded 13 months ago, Mickey Moniak went 3-for-4 with a hit single, a triple and an RBI. He also hit a wall jumper in left center field.

Moniak, who was replaced by charter signing Noah Syndergaard, said he had “no ill feelings” for the Phillies. 129/.214/.172 with 41 strikeouts in 105 games and handled injuries after being drafted first overall in 2016.

“I’m a believer, if you want to make it and you want to keep going, you’re going to have to earn it,” said Moniak, who pulled back 8-for-51 with 23 strikeouts in the match. . “I didn’t earn it, and that was the case.”