Philadelphia Phillies: 5 Reasons August Will Break Team Record for Wins in Month

The Philadelphia Phillies are absolutely rolling and have pushed their season record to 75-40. Barring a catastrophe of 1964-size proportions the Phillies are on cruise control towards the postseason.

As the wins continue to pile up, the Phillies have a chance to establish a historic mark. This month of August has the potential to be the winningest in the franchise's 128 year history.

The mark to beat is 22-5, which has been achieved twice. The record was established all the way back in June of 1892 and then matched in May of 1976.

The Phillies will play 28 games during August, so they must go at least 23-5 in order to rewrite the record book.

Here are the five reasons why this record could fall.

5. Incredible Start to 10 Game Road Trip

The Phillies left home riding a wave of momentum after sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, nobody could have anticipated that this would translate to such staggering success on the road.

Heading into Tuesday, the Phillies are 7-1 during this West Coast swing.

Winning away from home has put the Phillies in a position to chase history.

Thanks to their torrid start, the Phillies have lowered the bar to 16-4 the rest of the way, in order to break the record.

4. Pitching Continues to Get Healthy and Dominate

Consider that the Phillies sent three starting pitchers to the All-Star game. Add rookie of the year candidate Vance Worley to that trio. Now, add a healthy Roy Oswalt and you have a dominant five man rotation.

Halladay, Lee, Hamels and Worley boast a combined record of 47-18 and each have an ERA below 3.00. Oswalt is back from the disabled list and looking to regain his winning form after being nagged by back troubles. 

This starting rotation makes the Phillies a favorite to win virtually every night.

Oswalt's return has also strengthened the bullpen by moving Kyle Kendrick to the role of long reliever. At the back end, Charlie Manuel can mix and match Stutes, Lidge and Bastardo before handing it off to Ryan Madson. Madson has been spectacular, converting 20 of his 21 save opportunities. 

The Phillies staff is as healthy as it has been all year and is poised to steamroll through August.

3. Offense Is Trending Up

The simplest way to see consistency in offensive production is to look at how many runs are scored per game.

Here are some noteworthy figures for the Phillies runs per game averages:

• 1st Half: 4.22
• 2nd Half: 5.00
• With Pence: 5.20

Offensive consistency was a major concern throughout the first half. Since the All-Star break and trade deadline, it seems the Phillies have found it.

This season, the Phillies are 44-3 when scoring five or more runs.

When a team with an overall ERA of 3.06 gets over five runs of support, it translates to a lot of wins.

2. Sub-.500 Opponents

One of the primary reasons that the Phillies can dominate August is that their opposition is not what you would call formidable.

17 of the Phillies 20 games remaining in August will be played against teams with a record of .500 or below.

The only opponents with a winning record are the overachieving Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks are not exactly lighting it up of late, though, with a 3-4 record in August.

The Phillies also have a three-game set versus the Mets, who rallied against Heath Bell and the Padres on Monday night to improve to .500. However, they are 2-4 in August and have recently lost both Jose Reyes and Daniel Murphy to injury.

The Phillies still have two games left in Los Angeles to close out the 10-game road trip. The rest of the August schedule consists of six games against the Washington Nationals, three with the Florida Marlins and three versus the Cincinnati Reds.

With a schedule like this the Phillies will be favored to win night in and night out.

1. Home Cooking

In addition to playing teams with losing records, the Phillies are fortunate to get the majority of these games at home.

After finishing the current road trip, 12 of the 18 remaining games will be played at Citizens Bank Park, including their series with Arizona.

The Phillies have compiled a 41-18 record at home and enjoy one of baseball's best home field environments. 

Nothing will be handed to the Phillies, but they have the talent and soft schedule necessary to make a run at history here in August.