Clark Provides Sting After Lasorda Speech : Baseball: His pinch-hit homer gives Giants 5-3 victory after manager’s pregame talk.

In a startling pregame speech Tuesday, Tom Lasorda told the Dodgers that he accepts full blame for what has been the worst season in his managerial career.

Nine innings later, Will Clark made certain he also had something to do with it.

Adding his personal touch to Lasorda’s misery, Clark walked gingerly off the bench as a pinch-hitter with two out in the ninth inning and hit a two-strike, two-run homer to give the Giants a 5-3 victory before 18,754 at Candlestick Park.

“It was windy the whole game. . . . Then Will Clark steps up, the wind stops, and he crushes the ball,” Dave Hansen said. “The man is amazing.”

Clark did not start because of a sore right knee. And it appeared he would not be batting long after he swung through Roger McDowell’s first pitch and fouled off his second pitch with Jose Uribe on first base after a two-out single.

But Clark lofted McDowell’s third pitch into the right-field seats, improving his career average against the Dodgers to .321 with 15 homers in 389 at-bats.

Lasorda was left to regret that, for once, he showed trust in McDowell as his stopper instead of bringing in left-hander John Candelaria to face the tough left-handed hitter.

Clark had three hits in 14 at-bats against McDowell before Tuesday, a .214 average.

He had one infield single in eight at-bats against Candelaria, a .125 average.

“We had the right thing going, it just didn’t work out,” Lasorda told reporters.

Said Giant Manager Roger Craig: “(Clark) doesn’t hit Candy well at all, but I’m sure Tommy had his reasons.”

One reason might have been that Sunday in Montreal Lasorda replaced McDowell with left-hander Steve Wilson against Delino DeShields, and two hits later the Dodgers had lost the game.

“During the game I ate about eight packs of sunflower seeds, then I was spitting them at everybody, waiting around just kills me,” Clark said. “But things always calm down for me when I get up to the plate.”

Clark’s hit ruined a ninth-inning comeback and gave the Dodgers seven consecutive losses, three short of a Los Angeles record they tied earlier this year.

The Dodgers, who have lost 22 of their last 25 road games, return home after today’s afternoon series finale. They have gone 2-10 on this trip.

The hit also ruined what the players considered an impressive pregame speech, which was so loud it could be heard in the hallway outside the visitors’ clubhouse.

“(Lasorda) was telling us that he let us down, and that he did not get the best out of what was given to him,” Brett Butler said. “You can tell, this is really killing him. He really cares.”

Said Lasorda: “I wanted to give them something different to hear. I wanted to get them to realize that if I’m taking the blame, then they can look at themselves and see what they are doing.”

The Giants had taken a 3-0 lead after seven innings against Orel Hershiser on Cory Snyder’s second homer in two days, Bill Swift’s second run batted in of the season and an unearned run after the Dodgers’ 100th error in 100 games.

The Dodgers came back with two runs in the seventh inning on Eric Karros’ fourth home run in a week, then tied it on two ninth-inning blunders by Snyder, who was filling in at first base for Clark.

Todd Benzinger started the ninth with a high chopper that was grabbed by Snyder and thrown wildly to winning pitcher Rod Beck, who was covering first base. Benzinger took second.

Benzinger moved to second on a single by Mike Scioscia. Hansen, who had three hits in his previous three at-bats, then hit a grounder to Snyder.

Instead of throwing home to get Benzinger, he threw to shortstop Uribe to start a difficult double play. Hansen beat Uribe’s throw back to first, allowing Benzinger to score.

Once again, the Dodgers might not have been in a position to lose if Jose Offerman, who has committed 25 of the team’s errors, didn’t make a wild throw.

But Offerman’s throw pulled Karros off first base on a grounder by Robby Thompson with Mike Felder on second base in the fifth inning. Felder took third, and scored on Mark Leonard’s single.