Juan Pierre’s bases-loaded walk in 10th wins it for Dodgers

John Lackey was back.

Unfortunately for the Angels, so was the shakiness of their bullpen -- or, from the view in the opposing dugout, the Dodgers’ offense.

Scot Shields blew a one-run lead in the eighth inning by serving up a run-scoring single to Casey Blake, setting the stage for Jose Arredondo to hand the Dodgers a 5-4 victory Saturday night at Dodger Stadium by issuing a bases-loaded walk to Juan Pierre in the 10th inning.

With the victory, the Dodgers maintained their 8 1/2 -game lead over second-place San Diego in the National League West. The Angels, who had won four of their previous five games, fell three games back of first-place Texas in the American League West.

What was viewed as a late-game collapse in the visiting clubhouse was taken as a sign of the Dodgers’ resilience on the home side.

The only potentially significant setback on this night for the Dodgers was the loss of Andre Ethier, who cracked the nail on the big toe on his right foot when he was hit by a pitch from Lackey in the fifth inning. Ethier was replaced in the top of the eighth by rookie Jamie Hoffmann.

“We haven’t been hitting a whole lot,” Dodgers Manager Joe Torre said. “But we got some big things done.”

Like in the eighth inning.

Shields inherited a 4-3 lead from Lackey, who threw 107 pitches in seven innings in his third start this season.

James Loney hit a leadoff double to left field, advanced to third on a groundout by Matt Kemp and tied the score on a single to center by Blake.

“We had trouble closing the door and shutting some innings out,” said Angels Manager Mike Scioscia, who watched his bullpen post a 2.25 earned-run average over its last 11 appearances.

Shields also pitched the ninth but was forced out of the game with two outs and men on second and third when his left knee flared up. Arredondo got the Angels into extra innings by striking out Loney.

Matt Kemp and Casey Blake led off the decisive inning for the Dodgers with singles and Juan Castro loaded the bases by drawing a walk.

Up came Pierre, who took a 3-and-2 inside fastball to force in the winning run. The walk-off walk was the third of the season for the Dodgers.

“He’s been a leadoff hitter pretty much his whole life,” Torre said of Pierre. “He knows if it’s a ball or a strike.”

Not on this night, said Pierre, who was 0 for 5 with two strikeouts.

“Tonight, I was swinging at balls over my head and everywhere,” Pierre said. “I didn’t have my selective eye tonight.”

In the 10th inning, he said he decided he would force Arredondo to throw a strike.

“I finally had a good at-bat and it proved to be a big one,” Pierre said.

For the Angels, the game at least quieted many of the doubts concerning Lackey, who missed the first month of the season because of a strained right forearm and was ejected two pitches into his season debut for plunking Ian Kinsler of Texas.

The Angels’ ace held the Dodgers to three runs and seven hits over seven innings. He struck out five.

An AL scout who watched Lackey on Saturday night said that when evaluating pitchers recovering from injuries, he gauges the conditions of their arms based on whether they throw their breaking balls and command their pitches the way they used to.

“He did both,” the scout said.

The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Ethier doubled to left and scored on a double by Russell Martin.

With the Angels ahead, 4-1, Lackey was charged with two runs in the fifth.

The two-run surge was started by a two-out single by Orlando Hudson. Lackey then hit Ethier with a pitch and gave up a run-scoring single to Martin. Ethier scored on a single by Loney.

Ethier was one of three batters hit by Lackey, who received four runs of support on a home run by Juan Rivera and a three-run blast by Torii Hunter.

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com