SAN DIEGO -- The Phillies are eager to put their feet up after getting a leg up on the National League East.
The Phillies defeated the Padres, 2-1, on Sunday afternoon at Petco, and with the win, they scooted past the Mets for the divisional lead.
That cushion is only a half-game, but the Phillies will embrace their standing, just like they’ll wrap their arms around the respite that accompanies the All-Star break.
“I think everybody needs a break right now," Phillies manager Rob Thomson said after Philadelphia salvaged the final game of the three-game set. “We’ve been grinding. There haven’t been many games where you felt really comfortable. Everything has been a close game, whether we’re down, we’re up."
Philadelphia boarded a happy flight east from San Diego after a sensational performance by southpaw Cristopher Sánchez and Bryce Harper scoring both its runs.
A tip of the cap also goes to catcher J.T. Realmuto, who erased Fernando Tatis Jr. on a second-base steal attempt to end the seventh inning. Credit to shortstop Trea Turner on his nifty backhanded tag, as well.
Sánchez, whose Sunday start made him unavailable to pitch in the All-Star Game, worked 7 1/3 innings and allowed one run on six hits. He struck out six and walked three as he dialed down his ERA to a sparkling 2.50.
After a scratchy first inning in which he surrendered two walks and a single, Sánchez (8-2) settled down and into a groove that the Padres couldn’t solve.
Earlier in his career, Thomson said, Sánchez might not have survived that opening frame. And if he did, the rest of his outing might have been compromised.
But as Sánchez has matured, he no longer lets a rough patch derail his appearance.
“I know that comes with experience," Sánchez said through an interpreter. “We have been working hard and preparing before every start, and that has put us in that spot to perform better."
Thomson’s appreciation of Sánchez’s advancement was evident.
“I’m just so proud of him, from where he started to where he’s at right now," Thomson said. “Not just stuff, but command, poise and composure -- and he gets through that first inning.
“When we first had him, he’s not getting through that first inning. He’s learned to slow the game down and to be able to handle adversity and keep grinding, keep pitching."
By wiggling from that first-inning jam, the Phillies didn’t have a hole to dig from. The Padres’ lone run came on Jose Iglesias’ game-tying single in the sixth inning.
Harper reached on a hustle double down the left-field line in the eighth and came around to break the 1-1 tie on Realmuto's two-out double to center field.
The Phillies were the benefactor of shoddy Padres defense in the first inning, converting two errors into an unearned run.
With the All-Star break up next, the Phillies (55-41) are going to take a deep breath and get ready for a second-half push that could include a lengthy run in the playoffs.
“Pumped that we are in first place going into the second half," Harper said. “Really happy where we’re at, obviously, and we haven’t played our best baseball yet. I’m excited where we’re going."
Asked to explain what’s gone right in the first 96 games, Harper didn’t flinch.
“Starting pitching," he said. “Just the way that they have competed the whole time, and they’ve done a good job of pounding the zone."
Asked where the Phillies can still make strides, Harper was again quick to answer.
“Timely hitting and hitting with guys on base will be huge for us," he said.
Harper also said upgrades can come from players not yet in a Phillies uniform as he expects Dave Dombrowski, the team’s president of baseball operations, to be aggressive in bolstering the roster before the July 31 Trade Deadline.
“I think [he] is going to make some moves at the Deadline for us and get us that much better," Harper said.
One last thing on Harper’s to-do list -- and just maybe it’s paramount as the schedule flips from the season’s first half to its second.
“Our stars playing like stars," Harper said. “Put the pedal down and keep going."