ST. PETERSBURG -- Pitchers are athletes, too. Especially when they¡¯re outfielders. Brett Phillips proved it Monday night at Tropicana Field.

Phillips pitched the final two innings of the Rays¡¯ 13-2 loss to the A¡¯s, providing an entertaining finish to a game in which Tampa Bay lost young starter Luis Pati?o to a strained left oblique. It was Phillips¡¯ second pitching appearance in two years -- he unveiled what he called his ¡°Mariano Rivera cutter¡± last July 2 against the Blue Jays in Buffalo, N.Y. -- but this time Phillips¡¯ fielding stole the show.

With a runner on first base and one out in the ninth inning, Phillips went through his unusual windup and uncorked a 49 mph lob to Oakland right fielder Seth Brown. Brown took a late hack and popped it up high in foul territory, sailing it toward the A¡¯s dugout on the third-base side. Rays catcher Francisco Mej¨ªa started to chase after it, but so did Phillips.

Off Phillips went, dashing downhill off the mound to track the ball before sliding feet-first to make the incredible catch just in front of Oakland¡¯s dugout. The Trop¡¯s public address system responded by playing ¡°Hall of Fame¡± by The Script as Phillips quickly popped up and hustled back to the mound. Those left in attendance broke into a ¡°LET¡¯S GO BRETT¡± chant for the fan-favorite Seminole, Fla., native.

¡°That was unbelievable,¡± Rays manager Kevin Cash said. ¡°I mean, we're going to see that play on the highlight reel for the rest of the year.¡±

Phillips certainly hopes so.

¡°I¡¯m going to be honest. If I don¡¯t win Catch of the Year for pitcher, I¡¯ll be highly disappointed,¡± Phillips said. ¡°That¡¯s what I do best is catch baseballs. We all know that.¡±

Phillips proved it earlier in the game, making a running and sliding catch on the warning track in the right-field corner to rob Billy McKinney of an extra-base hit and record the first out of the second inning. That one didn¡¯t compare to the way he fielded his position in the ninth, though -- at least not according to Phillips, who said his play off the mound was ¡°definitely at the top¡± of the list of his best catches.

¡°When you get going fast off a steep hill like I did, you have more momentum to get to where you have to be,¡± he said. ¡°And obviously, going back to my slip-and-slide days, I know towards the end of the slip-and-slide, you always want to be prepared to bounce back up, because you know you have someone coming behind you and you don't want to get hit. So [I] slid, popped up, got back where I needed to be so no one was coming sliding in behind me.¡±

Phillips covered 90 feet in a hurry to make the grab, according to Statcast, and reached a maximum sprint speed of 28.4 feet per second, well above the Major League average. The Rays aren¡¯t about to bring the speedy outfielder into their pitcher¡¯s fielding practice drills next Spring Training, although it might not shock anyone to hear Phillips would make himself available to provide such instruction.

¡°It may be an opportunity for me to get in the classroom with these guys and show the pitchers what athletes really look like,¡± he deadpanned.

After Pati?o¡¯s early exit, the Rays asked Phillips to give them two innings to help keep their pitching staff fresh for their next stretch of games without an off-day. Phillips said he told Cash he was available for four innings, if necessary.

¡°One of those situations where we all know that I¡¯m the best off the bench, position player-wise. It¡¯s known across the league, OK. It¡¯s no secret,¡± Phillips said. ¡°Whatever value I can bring to this team, whether it¡¯s in the outfield, on the basepaths, hitting and, of course, pitching. Unfortunately I didn¡¯t have my best tonight.¡±

Last summer, Phillips began his pitching debut by zipping in a 94.3 mph fastball. This time, he stuck to the slow stuff. He threw only five pitches in the eighth, the Rays¡¯ most efficient inning of the night, then gave up a grand slam to Sheldon Neuse three batters after his highlight-reel catch in the next frame.

¡°It¡¯s totally different, especially with the way he was throwing,¡± Neuse said. ¡°You don¡¯t practice it. You don¡¯t do anything like that. So the first time you see it, you can¡¯t make sense of it. You¡¯re like, ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ Your body just doesn¡¯t want to wait that long, I guess.¡±

Added Phillips:

¡°Pitching performance was a little underwhelming. I¡¯m going to have to call my mom and basically explain to her that I just didn¡¯t have my best stuff tonight.¡±

Phillips came to the plate with two outs in the ninth, which technically made him the third ¡°pitcher¡± with a plate appearance in Tropicana Field history. He joined Andy Sonnanstine, who hit on May 17, 2009, due to a mistake on the Rays¡¯ lineup card, and Wade Boggs, who grounded out after facing one batter.

¡°That's a great part of history to be a part of, and especially in my hometown to be able to be a two-way superstar that I am,¡± Phillips said.