Going into the 2015 season, no one expected anything out of the Philadelphia Phillies. Everyone looked at the Phillies and saw a bunch of old, washed up players with a few young players younger who showed little potential in the Majors. During the month of April, the Phillies lived up to those expectations. The Phillies went 8-15 during the month, giving up an average of 4.86 runs per game while scoring an average of only 2.71 runs. The Phillies had a team batting average of .223, which is not a pretty site. A worse site was the team’s ERA of 4.28 in the month of April.

Looking at specific players who were doing poorly, 2B Chase Utley might have been the worst of them all. During April, Utley had a batting average of .114, the lowest of any qualifying batter in the Majors. Ryan Howard was also being typical Ryan Howard by hitting only .194 with eight extra base hits. Many fans had given up on the team so early in the season.

The month of May rolled around, and Philadelphia fans were still disappointed, but that also might have been the cause of the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles not managing to draft Marcus Mariota.

The Phillies started off May going 3-4 before losing four straight games, and their record was sitting an at ugly 11-23. Then, the Phillies did something they had not done in a long time; win multiple games in a row.

The Phillies went on a bit of a tear, winning six straight games and going 8-3 in their last 11 games. During that span, Howard channeled the 2006 version of himself that won the N.L. MVP award and hit 58 home runs with a .313 batting average. In the last 11 games, Howard has hit .419 with four home runs with eight RBI's and seven runs scored. Who knows how long Howard can keep up this play, but Philly fans hope he can find a way to keep it up for the rest of the season.

Recent call-up Maikel Franco has been performing well too. In the nine games he has played in, Franco has hit .324 with two home runs and five RBIs. Franco has also scored six runs of his own.

Besides the batting, the pitching has stepped up big time in the month of May. During May, the team’s ERA fell to 3.81 and has been 3.09 during the eleven-game span. Sean O’Sullivan has been one of the pitching standouts during this span, going 1-1 with both performances being exceptional outings. In his loss, he gave up only two runs and five hits in six innings pitched, which is excellent, given it was against the first place Washington Nationals and Max Scherzer.

Cole Hamels, star pitcher and the center of many trade talks, has been exceptional in his last three starts, going 3-0 and giving up only four earned runs in 22.1 innings pitched (1.63 ERA). Offseason acquisition Aaron Harang has continued to be exceptional, giving up no earned runs in his last two starts (14.0 innings pitched), lowering his season ERA to 1.83.

Credit is also due to Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg, who has been able to get everyone on the team involved. Doing so has allowed some of the lesser-known guys such as veteran outfielder Jeff Francoeur, to perform. Francoeur has proved vital off of the bench and has hit with power in clutch moments to put the Phillies over the top.

All the work of the Phillies over the past eleven games, and the entire month of May, have put them back in the N.L. East hunt. The Phillies have gone 11-11 so far in May, and their season record currently sits at 19-26. The Phillies currently sit 7.5 games behind the first-place Nationals and only 3.5 games back of the third-place Atlanta Braves. If the Phillies can keep their hot streak going, then they can move up and make a chance for the division or even just a wild card spot.

The Phillies do not show any sign of slowing down soon. Hopefully, this hot streak is no fluke, and maybe the Phillies are finally finding their groove after a cold start to the season. Their roster has lights of glimmer to finish off the first half of the season strong. But, we will have to wait and see, especially with Ruben Amaro Jr. at the helm, if any big pieces move and the Phillies just give up on the season. If May has proved anything, it is that Amaro will be getting a lot of calls about these players.