Zach Eflin was the story on Saturday afternoon.

His dominant effort helped the Phillies to their fifth straight win – a feat the team had not achieved since Aug. 5, 2018. That’s 755 days, in case you’re counting.

Eflin allowed just four hits and one earned run with eight strikeouts and no walks over seven impressive innings in the 4-1 win.

Encouraging signs had been there for Eflin throughout his first four starts of the season – including a skyrocketing 13.5 K/9, but some bad luck and untimely mistakes produced mixed results for the 26-year-old.

On Saturday, there were no mixed results, just one hell of a start that pushed the Phillies to within two games of the first-place Braves.

A change to his game plan against a dangerous Braves offense paid big dividends.

In his previous start against Atlanta just six days ago, Eflin threw his curveball only four times in 92 pitches (4.3%). On Saturday, he featured it in 19 of 83 pitches (23%). It helped to produce a number of his eight strikeouts.

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Eflin needed 59 pitches (41 strikes) to coast through the first five innings during which he faced just one batter over the minimum. In fact, at one point in the sixth, he retired 11 consecutive Atlanta hitters before allowing a solo home run to Johan Camargo with one out. It would prove to be his lone blemish of the day.

He then recovered to finish the sixth without further damage and would work around a one-out double in a scoreless seventh. Eflin was ready to return for the eighth, but for the second time this week it was the weather – not the opposing offense – that prematurely knocked a Phillies starting pitcher out of the game.

Still, Eflin’s outing continues a recent string of outstanding efforts from the starting rotation.

The Rise of Rhys Hoskins

Eflin made a first-inning unearned run produced by the Phillies’ offense stand up early until Rhys Hoskins took out a much welcomed three-run insurance policy in the fifth, It came courtesy of this 421 ft. blast off Braves starter Josh Tomlin:

The shot provided some breathing room and would prove to be the difference.

In Hoskins’ prior at-bat, he produced a 403 ft. drive that doinked directly off the red Toyota-branded padding in front of the Phillies’ bullpen. It was the Phillies’ second fence-doink of the week, but unlike J.T. Realmuto’s homer in Washington on Tuesday night, Hoskins’ ball came back into play for a double. He didn’t leave the result up to luck the next time around.

Following a tough Friday night that saw him go hitless in five at-bats, Hoskins bounced back on Saturday with a three-hit performance.

It’s the latest encouraging effort in a stretch that has brought about a dramatic rise in his numbers.

At the close of play on Aug. 12, the Phillies first baseman was hitting just .190 with a .642 OPS. Thanks to a 14-for-50 (.280 avg.) stretch which includes four homers and six doubles, he’s now up to .239 with an .852 OPS.

What Has Gotten Into Héctor Neris?

I don’t know what has gotten into Héctor Neris, but whatever it is, he should embrace it.

After a miserable stretch that saw Neris effectively demoted from his role as the primary closer, he has come back with two outstanding efforts in this series. Neris needed just a total of 23 pitches to complete perfect 1-2-3 innings on Friday and Saturday. Of those 23 pitches, 16 were strikes.

Erratic performance is nothing new when it comes to Neris, but the Phillies have to hope this is the start of one of those dominant runs that he’s capable of getting on.

Andrew Knapp, On-Base Machine

Andrew Knapp, who was 0-for-1 with two walks on Saturday, has come to the plate a total of 25 times this season. He has reached base 13 times. That’s good for a .520 on-base percentage.

While Knapp isn’t suddenly becoming an everyday catcher (Sign J.T.), he is solidifying himself as a stellar backup as he enters his second year of arbitration eligibility this winter.

David Roberton’s Season Is Over

Not much of a surprise here, but David Robertson’s season is over. There was hope as recently as last week that he could return to the Phillies in September, but he won’t throw for six weeks because of what Joe Girardi described as a “cranky” elbow.

Robertson will complete his two-year, $23 million deal with the Phillies having thrown only 6 2/3 innings.