PHILADELPHIA -- This might help.

The Phillies were always going to make upgrades before Tuesday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline, whether they played well or not this week against the Braves. But they beat Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park, 7-2, to win the three-game series. It pulled them into a temporary tie with the Cardinals for the third NL Wild Card. The Phillies (51-47) will take a half-game lead entering this weekend’s four-game series in Pittsburgh, if the Cardinals (51-47) lose Wednesday night in Toronto. The Phils will be no worse than a half-game behind.

A big weekend against the Pirates could convince the Phillies’ front office to dig a little deeper into the farm system to upgrade the roster.

You just never know what might turn a previously unlikely deal into reality.

“There’s a lot of confidence in this clubhouse,” Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto said. “We feel like we stack up well against any team in baseball. We don’t feel like we’ve played our best baseball yet. Hopefully that’s ahead of us. But obviously the guys in this clubhouse believe in ourselves. We believe in [president of baseball operations] Dave [Dombrowski]. I think people have said that before, and that’s true. That’s true throughout the entire clubhouse. There’s not a lack of confidence in here. We feel like we can compete with anyone.”

The Phillies are 29-18 (.617) since Rob Thomson became interim manager on June 3.

Only the Braves (34-14) and Dodgers (30-15) have been better in the NL during that span. The Phillies are 5-5 against the Braves this season. They already won season series against the Dodgers (4-3), Brewers (4-2), Padres (4-3) and Cardinals (4-3). The Dodgers and Brewers lead the NL West and NL Central, respectively. The Braves and Padres hold the first two NL Wild Card spots, with the Phillies and Cardinals vying for third.

Those are five of the best teams in the NL. The Phillies are 21-16 (.568) against them.

Teams that win season series win a very important tiebreaker. There is no more Game 163 if teams finish the 162-game schedule with the same record. So, for example, if the Phillies and Cardinals finish tied for the third Wild Card, Philadelphia would make the playoffs and St. Louis would not.

The Braves have a seven-game lead over the Phillies, but crazier things have happened. Keep winning and maybe they make things interesting down the stretch.

The Phillies should win this weekend. The Pirates are 40-58 (.408). They have a -144 run differential, which is the second worst in the Majors only to the Nationals (-154). The lowly Cubs just swept the Phillies last weekend coming out of the All-Star break, but the Phillies figure to carry a different mindset into Pittsburgh.

“Everybody in here knows we have a really good team,” Kyle Gibson said. “I hope the … I know the front office thinks that as well. There’s no hoping there. They know we have a contending team. I think for us it’s just taking care of business when the opportunities are in front of us. I think a series going into Pittsburgh is similar to the Cubs, right? We’re playing a team that has nothing to lose. Those teams are tough when it comes to August and September. I’ve been on those teams. They understand they can play spoiler. For us, the important thing is to come out, get a couple runs early, put up zeros early and set the tone.”

Gibson set the tone Wednesday. He pitched five scoreless innings until he gave up a two-run homer in the sixth. Thomson thought Gibson’s four-pitch fifth inning might have sparked the Phillies’ offense to score five runs in the bottom of the frame; Braves right-hander Charlie Morton simply had no time to catch his breath. After struggling to score the past few weeks, the Phils worked walks, took extra bases and strung hits together to take a 5-0 lead. They scored two more runs in the sixth to make it 7-2.

J.T. Realmuto went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. He is batting .350 with a .997 OPS in his last 17 games. Alec Bohm went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. He is batting .371 with an .892 OPS in his last 32 games.

Now it’s onto Pittsburgh.

“Make sure that we’re not taking anybody lightly,” Thomson said. “Don’t take anything for granted. You go in there, play your game, you get out front, put the foot on the pedal and run over people.”