Phillies alone in first place for the first time since 2011

Philadelphia leads Atlanta by a half-game in the National League East.

The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday, their 11th win in their last 15 games. At 29-20 they are in a position they haven’t seen in seven seasons: alone in first place atop the National League East.

Philadelphia has quite a bit of young talent, augmented by free agent acquisitions Carlos Santana and Jake Arrieta his offseason looking to accelerate their rebuild after averaging 93 losses over the last five seasons.

So far in 2018, it has worked.

The Phillies have outscored their opponents by 40 runs through their 49 games, the third-best run differential in the NL, and coupled with the Braves’ loss to the Red Sox in Boston on Saturday now own a half-game lead over Atlanta (29-21), another young team on the rise in the East.

This is the first time the Phillies have been alone in first place since the end of the 2011 season, when Philadelphia won 102 games in capturing their fifth consecutive NL East crown.

Since the start of the 2012 season, the Phillies have only been even tied for first place on four different days before Friday:

• 2012: They started 1-0
• 2014: They started 1-0
• 2017: They started 1-0
• 2017: A win on April 9 put Philadelphia at 3-3, tied with three other teams

There is still a lot of season to be played, but the Phillies at the very least are pointing up. It sure seems like a far cry from early April, when Philadelphia started 1-4 and the claws were out for new manager Gabe Kapler.

The Phillies then started a homestand and took off. They are 19-8 at Citizens Bank Park this season, and their 28-16 run has them atop the division for the first time since the glory years. That will help quiet the critics.