Mojo back? Trea Turner walk-off cements much needed vibe shift in Philly

Don't look now, but the Philadelphia Phillies are winning games.

The Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals aren't exactly the stiffest competition, but a win is a win in the MLB. And man, the Phillies need wins. After sprinting out of the gate to claim the MLB's best record at the All-Star break, the last month has been a slog for Philadelphia.

Prior to their recent three-game win streak, the Phillies were 7-16 post-ASB. There were many culprits to blame. Dave Dombrowski didn't do enough at the trade deadline. Rob Thomson didn't do enough to rally the troops or tweak various matchups. And, of course, the players weren't up to par. This Phillies roster does not lack for talent. It can, however, lack for consistency.

A major storyline over the last month has been the downturn in performance from Bryce Harper and Trea Turner. Philadelphia's most expensive and most reliable bats hit an untimely slump, just in time to raise blood pressures throughout the fandom. The Phillies never really lost ground in the NL East, but the Los Angeles Dodgers are neck-and-neck for the No. 1 seed (not that it matters much historically).

Harper was batting .207 with a .668 OPS during the 23-game period prior to Philly's win streak. Trea Turner was batting .168 with a .463 OPS over that same span. Generally, you'd expect more from a couple of All-Star starters and a former MVP.

The tides are shifting, though. Harper put together back-to-back two-hit games against Miami and Washington this week. Then, on Friday night, Trea Turner went 4-for-5 against the Nats, his former team, including the a run and the walk-off RBI.

Phillies are back in business following Trea Turner's majestic walk-off

With the bases loaded and zero outs in a tie ball game, Turner stepped up to the plate with a trio of hits under his belt. On the 2-2 pitch, he cranked a hanging slider to the left field fence to bring home Brandon Marsh and end it.

From there, the celebration was on. Here's what it sounded like inside the stadium.

It sure looks like all Turner needed was a night off to recalibrate.

The Phillies' primary bats are raking once again and momentum is starting to flow back in the right direction. We need to see it against real competition eventually, but we cannot discount the value of beating up on bad teams after a prolonged slump. Sometimes that is precisely what a contender needs to gets its mojo back.

Philadelphia has more than enough talent to contend with the NL heavyweights and potentially bring a World Series back to Broad Street. We are a long way from that happening, but these last few games have to be encouraging to a fanbase that was ready to melt into the earth's core a week ago.

The Phillies are back. Are they back for good? Only time will tell.