We have to give credit where credit is due, and that's exactly what the Philadelphia Phillies deserve.
The Phillies were one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball to start the season, but instead of giving up on the year, Dave Dombrowski decided to fire Rob Thomson and promote Don Mattingly to be his interim head coach.
Mattingly hasn't done a great job for this team, and that's been on full display over the last eight games, winning seven of them.
The Phillies have to feel really good about what they've been able to do on both sides of the baseball, but their win against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday was just as impressive as any throughout the year.
Facing the best starter in Major League Baseball, Paul Skenes, the Phillies did an excellent job against the big right-hander, putting up five runs against him in five innings. They put together six hits, including a walk, while striking out seven times.
"I thought we battled," Mattingly said of how the Phillies hit Skenes, per ESPN. "I thought we just fought him. And that's what you have to do against guys like him. He's going to get his outs; he's going to make pitches. But you've got to keep fighting and just keep fouling off, trying to fight just to get something. And I thought we did that kind of up and down the order."
More importantly, the Phillies seem to have the past behind them, even if it's likely to remain stuck in many fans' minds.
After how poor the start of the season was, it's only fair for the Phillies to have to show us a lot more before we trust them. On the flip side of that, stars on the roster feel really good about where things are right now, and there seems to be a lot of confidence in a locker room that wants to get going.
"We feel good," Phillies shortstop Trea Turner said. "This is what we're capable of; we obviously didn't want to start the way we did, but we feel good, we feel like we're playing good baseball."