Left fielder Lastings Milledge made what he called the catch of his career in the sixth to end the inning with two runners on base for the San Diego Padres.

Catcher Ryan Doumit made two throwing errors that led to runs on a day when the Pirates’ bats fell silent.

Such was the up-and-down day defensively for the team that entered the game with a .988 fielding percentage, best in the majors, and 64 errors, the fewest in the majors.

First, the good.

“It was probably the best one I’ve made out of my whole career,” Milledge said of the spectacular sliding stop on David Eckstein.

Milledge had to run far left for the ball hit by the 2006 World Series MVP. Milledge got the ball as he slid, feet first, on the warning track. His right foot hit the wall, then his left knee went directly into a spot where there’s about five inches of concrete under the pad.

Milledge didn’t get up and the trainers came out for a look, but he walked back to the dugout on his own and was back on the field for the seventh inning.

“I didn’t want to move it at first; I thought I was hurt bad,” Milledge said. “I’m just glad it’s nothing serious, and I can continue.”

Milledge said after the game that his knee was sore but that he planned to play today in the fourth and final game of the series against the Padres.

Then, there also was the bad.

Doumit was back at catcher after making a start on Saturday in right field. But in trying to turn a double play in the first inning, he threw wide of first baseman Steve Pearce, allowing Chase Headley to score to make it 2-0.

Then, in the ninth, Luis Durango stole second, and Doumit’s throw to the base again was off the mark and went into center field. Durango went to third and scored on a sacrifice fly.

“He rushed the throw to first; he didn’t get set,” Russell said of Doumit. “Then, the guy was stealing with a lot of speed, and he rushed the ball to second. We have to knock that ball down; we can’t let that ball go to center field. But it wasn’t a good throw. He’s been working awfully hard, and you don’t see that happen very often. Unfortunately, it happened two times (Sunday).”

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