Dominant Brown says he's taking monstrous month in stride

Domonic Brown picked up two more awards Monday, but he still doesn't have cable and he will not be sending out any tweets in the near future.

For the second consecutive week, the Phillies outfielder was named the National League player of the week. Brown also was named the league's player of the month for the first time in his career.

"It's a huge accomplishment," Brown, 25, said before the Phillies' series opener against the Miami Marlins. "I'm very proud and pleased. But I'm still focusing on what I have to do, and that's improve and win ball games."

Brown immediately went to work on another player-of-the-week award on Monday night by going 3 for 4 with a two-run homer during the Phillies' 7-2 win.

The home run came on a change-up by righthander Tom Koehler during an eight-pitch at-bat.

"It definitely felt good," Brown said. "I'm not going to say I knew the off-speed was coming, but I was looking for it there and he left it up."

It was Brown's ninth home run in 10 games. He is hitting .426 (23 for 54) with 10 home runs and 22 RBIs in his last 14 games.

"I'm not really big on numbers," Brown said. "I kind of go off my at-bats. I go and watch my at-bats every day and see which ones are good and eliminate the bad ones. I'm just trying to improve and I don't want to give at-bats away."

Winning awards and leading the league in home runs can be life-altering achievements, but Brown is trying to make sure his head continues to fit into his red helmet.

"There have been a lot of text messages, the social media stuff - Instagram and Facebook - but I don't tweet or anything," Brown said. "It's been fun. But I'm not letting that get in the way of my performance. I don't even have cable in the house, so I don't watch ESPN or anything."

No cable?

"I watch a lot of movies," Brown said. "That's about it."

Brown won the player-of-the-week award last Tuesday after hitting .348 with two doubles, two home runs, and seven RBIs. His on-base plus slugging percentage for that week was 1.130. His numbers the next week were considerably more impressive. He hit .444 with a triple, seven home runs, and 13 RBIs in seven games. His OPS for the week was 1.779.

For the month of May, Brown hit .303 with four doubles, a triple, 12 home runs, and 25 RBIs. He became the first Phillie to win a player-of-the-month award since Ryan Howard in August 2009.

"I've seen some tremendous months," manager Charlie Manuel said. "This ranks right up there. He's been fantastic. It shows that he can stay focused and he keeps things in perspective. That shows a whole lot about him."

Because of his dominant two-week stretch, Brown has been thrust into consideration for the All-Star Game July 16 at Citi Field in New York. If he makes the NL team, he likely will also be a part of the Home Run Derby. Manuel said he would be fine with that.

"I think that it is up to the individual," the manager said. "I've seen it go both ways. I've seen Albert Belle do it, and he thought it helped his swing. In fact, I think it helped Ryan Howard's swing."

Howard won the Home Run Derby in 2006 in Pittsburgh and won the league MVP award that year.

Brown hinted after hitting a three-run home run Sunday that pitchers have started to approach him differently and he expects that to continue.

"Yeah, that comes with the game," Brown said. "And I have to make adjustments back. So it's going to be different and it's probably going to start with the Marlins tomorrow because they know me pretty well."