-Today we’ve been keeping track of the Mets and Pirates on Kids Camp Day at Shea. What started out as a promising day for Oliver Perez and teammates now looks like it will disappoint those who attended expecting a sweep over hapless Pittsburgh. That’s because after dominating the first five innings and having a one-run lead on a David Wright sac fly which scored Jose Reyes back in the first, the southpaw imploded in the sixth allowing five Pirates to cross home plate.

After giving up back-to-back singles including an infield hit to opposing pitcher Paul Maholm, Perez threw away Cesar Izturis’ sacrifice bunt into right field allowing the tying run to come home and putting both runners in scoring position. It looked like he’d escape further damage when he got consecutive Pirates to pop up. However, a hard struck ball by ex-Met Xavier Nady ate up Wright at third allowing both runners to score putting the Pirates ahead by two. It was properly ruled a two-run single. Unfortunately for the ex-Pittsburgh ace, the inning wasn’t over. Former Yankee Josh Phelps deposited a Perez offering into the left field bleachers to suddenly make it 5-1.

Perez did fan his final batter of the day for strikeout No. nine but when you consider that he allowed only one baserunner (Phelps infield hit in 2nd) through the first five, this was a disappointing day against his ex-club. It’s what makes him so baffling because he can be so utterly dominant at times. But sometimes the wheels fall off which has to have a few Amazin’s fans scratching their heads.

The bright spot for the Mets on the day was the continued improvement of outfielder Lastings Milledge, who got a run back with a solo shot to left in the sixth for his second dinger of the series. He’s driven at least a run in four of the last five and five of seven.

The Pirates took full advantage of a Wright miscue to push across three in the seventh highlighted by a Phelps double for his third hit of the day. A Ruben Gotay sac fly and Reyes solo homer (seventh of season) sliced the deficit to 8-4.

This SNY poll about Mets’ home run celebrations going to far is silly. Just to prove it, 78 percent said no. Do the Mets sometimes excessively celebrate homers? Yes. But only a hot dog like Milledge will get the brunt of it because of how inexperienced he is which might help explain the beaning he took last night. Other Mets such as Reyes, Wright, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado are more respected for what they’ve accomplished on the field. When a young kid struts around, it can show up opponents.

In the mean time, Matt Capps struck out Shawn Green swinging to retire the side in order to salvage the third game of the series for Pittsburgh. The 23 year-old former 2002 seventh round pick has quietly saved nine games for them while improving across the board in his third season. Not bad.

For the Mets, it was a lost opportunity to get a sweep against an inferior opponent. But as SNY analyst Keith Hernandez noted, “Sweeps are tough to come. The final game is always hard to get.”

If Willie Randolph’s first place club takes care of business against the Nationals in a four-game series this weekend, I’m sure most will be happy. If you’ve ever listened to WFAN in New York, you can’t satisfy everyone. Fans always want to second-guess every move Randolph makes and micro-manage. Do you think that’s because he’s a former Yankee? Maybe they’d rather Art Howe in the dugout.
The Phillies are playing some good ball and could cut the deficit to four with a win over Washington in the City of Brotherly Love. At last check, they were leading 5-2 in the home sixth. Red hot 2006 NL MVP Ryan Howard hit his 29th homer to put them up one in the third and classic underachiever Pat Burrell drove home two more a couple of innings later.

Somehow, this team has hung around despite injuries to key pitchers Brett Myers, Tom Gordon and Freddy Garcia (out for season). Many people had Charlie Manuel fired after another slow start but you have to tip your cap to the beleaguered skipper who has his ballclub playing very well lately with Pittsburgh coming in next.

The question is can they be consistent enough to challenge the Mets? Who knows? I just feel like the Mets are better than both the Phils and Braves. Everytime either gets close, they slip up.

-In other baseball action, Ken Griffey, Jr. slugged career home run No. 588 against Milwaukee earlier. The Brewers were still ahead 5-4 in the eighth. Former Met Ty Wigginton hit his 16th as the D-Rays attempt to comeback in Baltimore. They’re now down by just one after trailing 6-2 after a five-run third by the O’s. The White Sox were leading the Tigers 2-1 with two runs in in the fourth on a Scott Podesednik RBI double and Josh Fields’ RBI groundout off Detroit ace Justin Verlander.
-Tonight, the Yankees aim for a four-game sweep of Kansas City. Kei Igawa (2-2 6.67 ERA) takes the mound against Jorge De La Rosa (7-10, 5.61 ERA). Coming off a 7-1 win in which Alex Rodriguez slugged career home run No.499, Joe Torre’s club will look to stay hot and win their seventh straight.

They know there’s little margin for error with 62 games remaining and still 6.5 behind first place Boston and trailing wild card leading Cleveland by 4.5. The good news is there’s still plenty of season left and they have closed the gap on both and still have games against each (6 vs Bos and 3 vs Cle). But any slip up now could prove costly.

After tonight, the Yanks head to Baltimore where they’ll complete a game from last month and play three more this weekend.

-We’ll end with this. With all the attention focused on Barry Bonds, it’s nice to see Craig Biggio having a flair for the dramatic in his final season with the Astros. The versatile 20-year veteran has delivered two very special moments this year for baseball fans in Houston. He recorded a milestone with his 3,000th career hit with a single to center in the home seventh back on June 28 against the Rockies.

Even more special was that he finished off the night with five hits including coming around to score on Carlos Lee’s walkoff grand slam in the 11th to celebrate in style. Biggio became the 27th member of the 3,000 hit club and according to Elias Sports Bureau, the first player to ever reach the mark in a five-hit game. Distinguished members George Brett (1992) and Tony Gwynn (1999) had four hits when they got to 3,000.
The 41 year-old Biggio recently announced that this will be his final season. So, how did he respond hours after the announcement? By hitting a go-ahead grand slam in an exciting 7-4 win over the Dodgers this past Tuesday night. The performance even impressed his defeated opponents who had nothing but praise afterwards:

Former teammate Luis Gonzalez: “It was typical Biggio. It was kind of meant to be for him today. He’s a great ambassador for the city of Houston. All the things he does on the field and off the field, he’s been first-class his entire career. … It was only fitting that he hit a grand slam tonight. I just wish it hadn’t been against us.”

Manager Grady Little added: “It was a special day for [Biggio]. I have a lot of respect for what he’s accomplished. He’s made the difference in a lot of games throughout his career and he made the difference tonight.”

Here was Biggio’s take on things:

“Emotionally, it was a tough day. To have this happen is amazing. I still think I’m going to die early with all that has happened this season. I didn’t even feel like I was touching the bases as I ran around them. It was just magical. It was a special, special night.”

In an era where so much negative attention is focused, Biggio is a throwback who personifies what sports should really be about. And to see a player who did whatever was good for the team whether it was converting from catcher to second or going to left field is what makes him so special. He’s done it all with the same team. Something you don’t see a lot of in many sports today.

Biggio has now played in an even 2,800 games and has 3,017 hits, 287 home runs and 413 stolen bases to go with 1,160 driven in. He’s also been a seven-time NL All Star and four-time Gold Glove winner (all at 2nd). He might not get the recognition of a Bonds or A-Rod but is certainly worthy of attention for the kind of career he’s had.

Kudos to the former Astros’ 1987 first round selection (22nd overall) out of Seton Hall for working hard to put together a respectable career. Biggio is the definition of class.