Ward Puts a Big Hurt on Angels

Dodger fans may have a little trouble absorbing this next sentence. Dar- yle Ward smashed a three-run home run in the fifth inning Wednesday night, ending a tie score and lifting the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-3 interleague victory over the Angels in front of 22,404 in PNC Park.

Yes, this was the same Daryle Ward who was among the biggest busts in the Dodgers’ 2003 season, a supposed proven power hitter who batted .183 with no home runs and drove in nine runs in 52 games before being banished to triple-A Las Vegas on July 24.

But to say Ward’s career has been rejuvenated in Pittsburgh is like saying Vladimir Guerrero and Jose Guillen have provided a little boost to the Angel offense this season.

In 32 games and a mere 127 at-bats, Ward is hitting .299 with nine home runs and 28 runs batted in, and he provided the key blow to help the Pirates end a nine-game losing streak Wednesday night. The former Riverside Bethel Christian High star struggled in spring training and opened the season at triple-A Nashville.

But since being recalled by the Pirates on May 11 -- after former Pittsburgh and current Angel outfielder Raul Mondesi left the team to return to the Dominican Republic -- Ward has been a force in the Pirates’ improved offense, even hitting for the cycle against St. Louis on May 26.

“I learned a long time ago that sometimes you need to go through a negative before you can get back to the positive,” said Ward, who has dropped 15 pounds since the start of the season and has been playing first base and right field.

“That’s what happened last year. I had some injuries, and I didn’t play well. Obviously, I wasn’t happy with the way it went, but I’ve moved on, and I’m a better player and person for going through that kind of season.”

Ward, in a two-for-18 slump before the game, drove a first-pitch fastball from starter John Lackey over the wall in center field to end a 2-2 tie, but he might not have had the chance to break the game open if not for several defensive lapses by the Angels in the fifth.

The Angels held a 2-0 lead on the strength of run-scoring singles by Guillen in the fourth inning and Adam Kennedy in the fifth, but they unraveled during a peculiar Pirate rally in which the ball rarely left the infield.

After Bobby Hill singled with one out, Tike Redman grounded into the shortstop hole. Alfredo Amezaga, filling in for the injured David Eckstein, ranged to his right and fielded the ball cleanly, but he lost his grip on it and was unable to throw to second for the force.

Pinch-hitter Abraham Nunez grounded a run-scoring single to center, off the glove of a diving Amezaga, to cut the Angel lead to 2-1 and advance Redman to third. Jason Kendall beat out a fielder’s choice, Redman scoring to make it 2-2, and when Kendall took off for second, neither Amezaga nor Kennedy, the second baseman, covered the bag.

“He caught the whole team sleeping, me included,” catcher Josh Paul said. “It was a heads-up play by Kendall. He’s a smart player.”

Third baseman Chone Figgins made a superb diving stop of Jack Wilson’s smash to the hole, but his high throw pulled first baseman Darin Erstad off the bag, and Wilson was safe. Ward followed with his blast for a 5-2 lead.

Paul said he didn’t think Lackey’s pitch to Ward “was that bad.” Asked his opinion of the pitch, Lackey rolled his eyes and said, “He should have been hitting in the next inning.... It was a situation where I had to stop the bleeding. He’s a first-pitch hacker, and I got a little too much of the plate.”

Otherwise, Lackey pitched well, though his line -- five runs and eight hits in six innings, four strikeouts and no walks -- won’t reflect it.

“The big inning wasn’t so much a result of John’s missteps,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “A couple of plays that weren’t routine but were plays we could have made opened the door for them. But sometimes you have to bend but not break.”

The Angels cut the deficit to 5-3 on Guerrero’s single and Guillen’s run-scoring double in the eighth, and threatened in the ninth, putting runners on second and third with one out when Paul walked, Robb Quinlan singled and pinch-hitter Eckstein dropped a sacrifice bunt.

But closer Jose Mesa struck out Figgins swinging at a 92-mph fastball and Kennedy swinging on a 95-mph fastball to end the game for his 15th save.