page_title: 2014 Philadelphia Phillies season
section_title: May
hierarchical_section_title: 2014 Philadelphia Phillies season / Season notes / May
caption_attribution_description: English: Domonic Brown warming up for the Phillies in 2011.
context_page_description: The Philadelphia Phillies' 2014 season was the 132nd in the history of the franchise. After a disappointing 2013, the Phillies entered the offseason with a strategy to reload rather than rebuild; they did not want to relinquish the opportunity to do well in 2014 in hopes of being competitive down the road. Commensurate with this strategy, among their key acquisitions were right fielder Marlon Byrd and starting pitcher A. J. Burnett. The Phillies began the season with new coaches and new broadcasters; Jamie Moyer and Matt Stairs, two members of the 2008 World Series squad, replaced Chris Wheeler and Gary Matthews as analysts on Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.
  After offseason headlines indicated a tenuous relationship between Sandberg and shortstop Jimmy Rollins and controversy about draft picks who did not sign with the team, the season began auspiciously with an opening-day win; however, the Phillies then lost their next two games. April continued in that fashion; the team played .500 ball in their first 26 games, exceeding expectations. One commentator called them "pleasantly mediocre", despite a horrific performance from the bullpen.
context_section_description: The Phillies' first May game opened a series with the Washington Nationals on May 2. The Nationals won, 5–3, despite a quality start by Lee. Philadelphia won game two 7–2, thanks to a strong start from A. J. Burnett (the first Phillies starter of the season to win a home game), a Cody Asche home run and four–for-five hitting by Jimmy Rollins. The Phillies took the series' rubber match, 1–0, with a strong start from Roberto Hernandez and a first-inning RBI triple by Jimmy Rollins. The team then hosted the Toronto Blue Jays, with Kyle Kendrick starting against former Phillie J. A. Happ in the series' first game. The Phillies lost, 3–0; Kendrick had no run support, losing his eighth consecutive decision (dating back to 2013) despite a "decent" ERA. The club lost the next night as well, with Cole Hamels giving up five runs in six innings; despite a sixth-inning grand slam by Asche to tie the game, the Blue Jays came back in extra innings for a 6–5 win. The home-and-home series then moved to Toronto for two games, where the Phillies gave up nine runs in the seventh inning of the first game to lose 10–0. After the game, Shawn Camp was outrighted from the roster and Luis García recalled. The series concluded the next night, with five Blue Jays home runs giving them a 12–6 win. The Phillies then began a three-game series at Citi Field with the New York Mets. Hernandez started game one, pitching five innings and allowing one run; in his first hit of the day, Marlon Byrd batted in Chase Utley (the go-ahead run) in the top of the 11th inning. Papelbon saved the game in the bottom of the 11th and the Phillies won 3–2, snapping a four-game losing streak. They won another one-run game (5–4) the next night; Ryan Howard's RBI single in the top of the ninth gave the Phillies the lead, and Papelbon recorded his 11th save of the season. In the final game of the series Hamels consistently had "an answer" to the Mets' offense, throwing a career-high 133 pitches in seven innings, allowing one run and striking out 10 hitters. Entering the ninth inning, the Phillies led 4–1; with Papelbon unavailable, Antonio Bastardo and Hernandez squandered the lead and the Phillies lost 5–4 in 11 innings. The teams finished a series which was " ... ugly, between two deeply flawed teams: more than 12 hours of game time, nearly 80 runners left on base combined."
  
   
  Days after he was optioned to AAA, Freddy Galvis broke his clavicle and the Phillies outrighted Jayson Nix from the 40-man roster, leaving the team with an infield hole despite the recall of Reid Brignac. The Los Angeles Angels came to Citizens Bank Park for a two-game series on May 13–14. On the 13th the Angels won, 4–3; the four Angel runs (all unearned) were scored in the sixth inning, when Asche committed two of his three errors, and Lee received the loss despite having no earned runs. The Phillies dropped four games below .500 (17–21) the next night, losing the series' second game 3–0 after Burnett "struggled through five innings". The team then began a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds. In game one, Devin Mesoraco hit a three-run home run and the Reds' pitching shut out the Phillies; despite a quality start, Kendrick had another loss. After two straight shutouts the Phillies scored 12 runs in the next game, defeating Cincinnati 12–1 for Hamels' 100th career win; Domonic Brown had a home run and five RBIs, Asche had three RBIs and César Hernández hit his first major-league home run. The Phillies took the rubber match of the series, winning 8–3 with four home runs (by Rollins, Asche, Byrd and Wil Nieves) and a solid start from Lee (his last before joining the 15-day disabled list May 21 with to a left-elbow strain; the team recalled Ruf, who returned from injury). After a day off the Phillies played the Marlins in Miami, their second meeting of the season. The Phillies won the series' first game 6–5, with Burnett settling in after disagreements over the strike zone with home-plate umpire Will Little early in the game; Marlins manager Mike Redmond was later ejected from the game for a
caption: Domonic Brown's struggles continued into May, when he had a .146 batting average.
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