As O's bullpen struggles overall, Evan Phillips gets on a nice roll

TORONTO - At a time when the Orioles bullpen is struggling and often giving up leads, a pitcher that had been struggling previously is not anymore. At least not in a recent stretch of games.

Right-hander Evan Phillips has now put together six straight scoreless appearances for the Orioles, the latest a two-inning stint last night when he pitched the fourth and fifth against Toronto. Over the six games, Phillips has thrown seven innings, allowing four hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts.

It was a carryover from a strong run he had late in the year for Triple-A Norfolk. Over his last eight games with the Tides, he allowed one run over 14 1/3 with 17 strikeouts.

To hear Phillips explain the recent success, it was when he realized he didn't have to make changes all the time that things started to click.

Called up most recently on Sept. 3, Phillips is in his eighth stint with the Orioles and this time he has reduced his ERA from 8.84 to 6.49. He is at least trending in the right direction and trying to make a nice final impression.

"I think I really got in a routine when I was down in Triple-A, especially in August," Phillips said this afternoon. "I really found a stretch of games that really clicked for me and resulted back to what I was doing in spring training at the beginning of the year.

"When I would be sent down to Norfolk, a couple of times I thought I had to change something. So just kind of went back to what was working and going well. Once I figured those things out and got myself in a good rhythm, I think I've carried that into August and September."

He entered last night with Toronto leading 6-3 as they hit three early homers off Chandler Shepherd. Phillips restored some order to the game, retiring six straight batters over the fourth and fifth innings, and a great catch in center by Austin Hays helped his cause.

"Just been sticking with my routine from a day-to-day basis," Phillips said. "Rather than trying to do something different, it was refine and continue to get better at what I do well. And in doing that, it improved my command of all three pitches. Generally attacking the hitters has made a big difference. I was trying to improve, but I was going about it the wrong way. Once I got back to doing what I do well and what got me to the big leagues and provided me some success early on, that helped me improve."

Phillips has been a big strikeout pitcher this year, fanning 44 in 39 2/3 innings with Norfolk and 39 in 26 1/3 innings with the Orioles. His strikeout rate of 13.33 per nine innings is the best on the team among pitchers that have thrown 25 or more innings.

So Phillips would like to leave the coaches with a nice final impression, but said he doesn't think of the end of the year so much in those terms.

"I really don't think that way. I just want to build off what I was doing in Norfolk in August," he said. "The stadiums are bigger and there are more fans in the stands, but it's still the same mindset and still the same attack plan. I'm glad it's carrying over. That tells me what I'm doing is working. But until the season is done, I'm not going to think about the impact that might have. Just want to finish strong."

Kay is scratched: The Blue Jays have scratched left-hander Anthony Kay (1-0, 5.79 ERA), who was scheduled to start tonight, due to back pain. The starter now is lefty Thomas Pannone (3-5, 5.90 ERA). He pitched a scoreless sixth inning last night on 20 pitches and has thrown six scoreless innings in September out of the Toronto bullpen. In five games this year (one start) against Baltimore, Pannone is 0-0 with a 2.70 ERA and three walks and 17 strikeouts over 13 1/3 innings.