Sept. 3, 2009

DURHAM, N.C. - Former Oakland University baseball standout Paul Phillips has had a rapid rise through the ranks of the Tampa Bay Rays' minor league system this year, and was recently promoted to the Triple-A Durham Bulls.

Phillips, who played at Oakland in 2003 and 2005, was a ninth-round selection of the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft. He still holds the OU Division I-era record for career earned run average with a 4.19 mark.

After getting off to a good start this season with the Class A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs, where he posted a 2-1 record with two saves and a 3.33 ERA over 27.0 innings of work, Phillips was promoted to the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits. While with Montgomery, Phillips went 3-3 with a 2.43 ERA, notching seven saves over 37.0 innings of work.

His quality work in Montgomery earned Phillips a promotion to Triple-A on Sept. 1 for the first-place Bulls. He made his debut for Durham that same day against the Gwinnett Braves, where he tossed 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and fanning two in a 10-2 victory.

After concluding their current three-game set with the Charlotte Knights, the Bulls will conclude their season with a three-game series at home against Norfolk. The regular season will come to an end on Monday, Sept. 7.

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