ATLANTA - The Phillies said they never considered moving righthander Chad Durbin from the bullpen to the rotation to replace Brett Myers.

Good call.

Durbin is 2-1 with a 1.58 ERA in 32 appearances this season and has become too valuable to move, even temporarily. That was not the expectation before the season started. The Phillies expected Durbin to open the season in the bullpen but start if needed because he had experience in the rotation.

"He's done better than I anticipated, because we've moved him about everywhere in our bullpen," manager Charlie Manuel said before last night's series finale against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. "I thought he was going to be a spot starter and a long man, but he's pitched his way out of that. He became a big part of our bullpen. And for us to move him into the starting role, I felt like that wasn't good for our bullpen."

Durbin replaced righthander Adam Eaton with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth inning Wednesday in a 7-4 victory over the Braves. He got Jeff Francoeur to bounce into a double play and struck out Mark Kotsay to end the inning with just one run crossing the plate.

"I've had a game plan," said Durbin, who went 8-7 with a 4.72 ERA in 19 starts and 17 relief appearances last season for the Detroit Tigers. "Last year I felt like I threw the ball about like I have this year, but I was starting, and then I would be a short guy in the seventh or eighth innings. And then a week later I would start two more times, and then I'd be a long guy. My arm just couldn't keep up with it. It barked for a good two months.

"It's just consistent work and having a routine. When you're jumping around like that, there's no way to keep up with your arm. You're going from 25 pitches per outing to 110 and then back to 25. It was really hard. That consistent work has definitely helped."

Myers is healthy

The Phillies gave Myers a series of medical tests yesterday and found him in perfect health. Tests included an MRI exam on his right shoulder, which he strained last season to put him on the disabled list.

"There's nothing wrong with him at all," said Ruben Amaro Jr., the Phillies' assistant general manager. "He's clean as a whistle."

More on Myers

Myers made his triple-A debut at Lehigh Valley on Wednesday and allowed three runs in a loss. But he did not throw his fastball much.

"That's a building block," pitching coach Rich Dubee said. "This is just the tip of the iceberg. It's a start of a process for him. I'd like to see him throw his fastball more, and people down there are aware of that. But it sounded like he got some confidence going for a while. He had a little bit better posture and tempo on the field. But again, he still relied on his curveball a lot."

Carrasco's shoulder

At double-A Reading, righthander Carlos Carrasco had to be scratched from Wednesday's start because of some soreness in the back of his right shoulder. It is not considered serious, and he could pitch next week.

Howard power

Ryan Howard hit his 150th career home run Wednesday, becoming the fastest player in baseball history to reach the milestone. He hit No. 150 in his 495th game. The four fastest before him were Eddie Mathews (569 games), Ralph Kiner (570 games), Albert Pujols (588 games), and Mark McGwire (588 games).

Burrell power

Pat Burrell has 239 career home runs and needs just four more to tie Hall of Fame rightfielder Chuck Klein for third place on the all-time franchise list.

Phillies power

The Phillies have three players with 20 or more home runs before the all-star break for the first time in franchise history: Chase Utley (24), Howard (22) and Burrell (21).

---

Contact staff writer Todd Zolecki at 215-854-4874 or tzolecki@phillynews.com.

Read his blog at http://go.philly.com/phillieszone.