No, seriously.  I’m not making this up.

It’s May 6th.  Through 24 games, the Phillies have led wire-to-wire (never trailing) in just three games.  Their pitchers have a 5.50 ERA, worst in the National League, and have surrendered an MLB-high 43 homers (almost two per game).  Both Brad Lidge and Cole Hamels – who is winless, by the way – sport ERAs around 7, and Clay Condrey is tied for the team lead in wins.  The lowest ERA of any Phillies starter is 5.35.  And Chase Utley has not started two of the past three games due to a foot injury.

Taking all that into account, the Phillies are, of course, in first place.

Somehow, someway, the Fightin’s will arrive at Bailout Park Citi Field tonight as a first-place club (though, with Chan Ho Park facing off against Johan Santana, that might not last very long).  This team, with arguably the worst pitching in the majors, is 14-10 and coming off a quick two-game sweep of the very formidable Cardinals in St. Louis.  Last night, they finally overtook the Marlins – 4-11 after an 11-1 start – for the top spot in the National League East.

I checked the standings online after last night’s game and, sure enough, there they were.  The Phillies.  My Phillies.  At the top of the standings.  I found myself playing that song in my head, the one that begins “You may ask yourself, ‘how did I get here?’”

How DID we get here?

Well, like we always have.  The bullpen – Lidge’s first blown save of his Phillies career notwithstanding – has been terrific.  Condrey has been a revelation in the seventh inning, Madson continues to dominate in the eighth and just about everyone this side of Scott Eyre (who’s been better lately) has gotten the job done – which is good, considering the starters have been lasting about two innings before calling it a night (Chan Ho, I’m looking at you).

And then, of course, there has been the offense, and the come-from-behind wins.  The Phils’ first nine wins, and 11 of their 14 wins thus far have been comebacks.  Now, I’m not the Elias Sports Bureau, but I would imagine that has got to be either some kind of record or pretty freakin’ close to one.  Of course, coming from behind has got to be somewhat easier when you have Raul Ibanez and Chase Utley tearing the cover off the ball (they each have eight home runs and 21 RBI), Shane Victorino riding a 14-game hitting streak, Ryan Howard with two grand slams already and even Pedro Feliz (!) contributing – to the tune of a .325 batting average.  Now, if only J-Roll could get going (and he’s got 10 hits in his last seven games), and things could really start to get interesting.

So, despite everything that has gone wrong – and there has been a ton of it – the Phillies have continued to do some things very well.  To be four games over .500 and in first place after a month and change seems like some kind of hilarious joke, but the standings insist it’s true.  If the starters can start pitching like a major league staff, this team could really start to take off, which should scare the bejeezus out of Mr. Santana and the boys from Flushing.  Because if a team can be 16th in the league in ERA, first in home runs allowed, last in starters’ ERA and STILL be in first place, that team is a force to be reckoned with.  Now, I’m not going to start making any noise about repeating as champions of this or that, but the Phils have proven that they are a tough, tough team to take out – even when they’re giving up over five runs a game.  Lower that ERA to the 3’s or 4’s and, well, let’s just say I wouldn’t rule out adding another pennant of some kind to that fast-growing collection at Citizens Bank Park.