Do the Phillies Really Have a Chance at the Playoffs?

Three. Games. Out.

As of Thursday morning, the Philadelphia Phillies were three games out of the second wild card spot in the National League. (After their own late-inning collapse in Houston and a St. Louis Cardinals win in Los Angeles, the Phils found themselves four games out early Friday morning.)

Unbelievable. Incredible.

The sports talk stations are abuzz with talk about the turnaround the Phillies, a team in late July, have made.

The Fightins have a history of being one of the best second-half teams in baseball and Charlie Manuel is working his magic. The team usually has strong Septembers; this one is no different.

The recent six-game sweep over the Colorado Rockies and Miami Marlins made it one of the best-winning homestands in franchise history.

Last year, the Cardinals caught fire in September, rolled through the playoffs and won the World Series. And the Phils, who had the best record in the regular season, got knocked out quickly by red-hot St. Louis.

As the Phillies are catching fire at the right time, they're getting help from their wild-card competition—the Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates—teams that are struggling to play competitive baseball.

These Phils have some swagger. They believe in themselves and feel that they can't lose, coming back several times when games looked bleak.

has carried the team on his back, and the much-maligned bullpen has turned into one of the best in the business, with lights-out work by rookie Phillippe Aumont (who imploded in the eighth innning in Houston Thursday night) and closer Jonathan Papelbon.

General manager Ruben Amaro —three players who were traded to potential wild-card competitors in the West. In came an influx of Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs who have given the team the jolt of life it's now enjoying.

Players such as Erik "Chris Coste 2012" Kratz and Kevin Frandsen are putting up breakout numbers while relievers Jake Diekman (another culprit in Thursday's loss in Houston), Justin De Fratus and B.J. Rosenberg and starter Tyler Cloyd have made a difference. 

It also helps that Chase Utley and Ryan Howard are back stabilizing the lineup every day, and that pitchers Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee have rounded into form even as Kyle Kendrick is doing his best Cy Young impression down the stretch.

The Phillies are still a longshot. There's a few weeks of games to play. But they've got fans believing in them, and they are believing in themselves again.

With the way the Fightins are playing, who knows what could happen if they make the playoffs? A season that looked lost is suddenly full of promise once again.