Yes Virginia, the team meeting did all the difference.
Playing the Phillies on Memorial Day helped too. Six runs off of Severino Gonzalez and their terrible relief corps played a huge part. Don’t get me wrong, there’s no shame in beating whoever is on the schedule. And those teams who are pissed that its the N.L. East that gets to play the Phillies 19 times a year, well … relocate. Commissioner Manfred will see what he can do. But the lineup, which were lulled to sleep against the likes of decent pitchers like Gerrit Cole, A.J. Burnett, and Francisco Liriano, woke up with the presence of Gonzalez, Elvis Araujo (which if you say it fast sounds like a Stallone line from the first Rocky movie), and Justin De Fratus.