Roy Dabner, Associated Press It has been 64 games since Pirates first baseman Daryle Ward has been congratulated by teammates after hitting a home run. Click photo for larger image. MINOR-LEAGUE REPORT Sunday's results INDIANAPOLIS (76-60) lost at Columbus, 5-4. RHP Chris Enochs (4-4, 5.25) allowed three runs in six innings. RHP Jeff Miller (3.51) pitched two scoreless innings of relief. 1B Graham Koonce (.269) went 2 for 3 with a double, a walk and an RBI. C Paul Chiaffredo (.217) hit his seventh home run. ALTOONA (70-65) lost to Akron, 6-3. LHP Tom Gorzelanny (3.39) allowed two runs in three innings. 2B Craig Stansberry (.235) went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI. LYNCHBURG (73-60) beat Wilmington, 9-4. LHP Derrick Van Dusen (11-5, 4.23) allowed four runs, two earned, in 5 1/3 innings. CF Nyjer Morgan (.274) went 3 for 5 with a double and two RBIs. 1B Pat Magness (.306) hit his 22nd home run, DH Brad Rea (.267) his eighth. HICKORY (51-74) was off. WILLIAMSPORT (36-29) won at Aberdeen, 11-6. RHP Derek Antelo (3.69) allowed three runs in six innings. RF Brad Corley (.267) went 3 for 4 with a walk and an RBI. CF Andrew McCutchen (.500) went 2 for 3 with a walk.

It has been a long time since Daryle Ward hit a long ball.

Two hundred at-bats.

Sixty-four games.

Almost three months, going back to June 7, when he planted a 97-mph fastball from the Baltimore Orioles' Jorge Julio into the center-field landscaping at PNC Park.

If Ward were a backup shortstop, it might not trouble him. But his stocky build, history of hitting power and solid start to this season make it impossible for him to ignore that his home run total has been stuck at 11 for so long.

"I think about it. I do," he said yesterday. "A home run would be nice."

In the same breath, Ward underscored that he has no plan to adjust his approach at the plate to end the drought.

"I've still got to get my hits. I'm not going to try too hard to hit one and get myself out. That's the last thing I want to do is to be an easy out trying to hit a home run."

He has not been an easy out most of the season, certainly not of late. He is batting .367 (22 for 60) in his past 27 games. Even there, though, he has only two extra-base hits in that span, both doubles. This month, all 14 of his hits have been singles.

Ward, 30, made it to Major League Baseball because of his power. He hit 20 home runs as a rookie for the Houston Astros in 2000 and, although his performance was spotty after that, hit 15 for the Pirates last year in only 79 games. He had 10 home runs in the first two months of this season, as well as some of the most prolific cleanup numbers in the game.

A month ago, the Pirates promoted Brad Eldred to play first base and he claimed most of the at-bats that had gone to Ward. But that was not among the two factors Ward cited in trying to explain why he no longer clears the fences.

The first, he said, was that pitchers learned from his first two months and stopped throwing him fastballs and stayed to the outside.

"Guys know that, if they leave balls over the middle of the plate, I can drive them. So, they keep balls down and away, and that's a weak area for just about everyone in the league. You either take a single to left field or try be as patient as you can and wait for a mistake."

The other, he said, was an undisclosed injury to his left leg -- his back leg in the box -- that stripped some of the punch from his swing.

"The leg got weak, and I didn't know it was weak until it affected my knee two weeks ago. But I've been working on it since then, and it's starting to feel better."

North Side notches

Manager Lloyd McClendon will use Paul Maholm and Mark Redman in the two-game series that opens tonight in Milwaukee. Maholm was pushed back a day from yesterday, and Redman was left to pitch Wednesday as originally scheduled. Dave Williams was supposed to pitch tonight, but he will be held out until Saturday at the earliest. The Pirates are off Thursday, and McClendon said Josh Fogg will pitch Friday against the Chicago Cubs.

McClendon was not available to explain why Williams' turn was skipped, but Williams has given up five runs in each of his past two starts and tends to pitch best with extra rest.

Catcher Ryan Doumit was not going to play again yesterday because of a mild concussion, but he is expected to return tonight. Doumit was dizzy after being hit by a foul tip Saturday. "I didn't think anything of it," he said. "Happens all the time." He took a memory test Sunday and yesterday and passed both.

McClendon was displeased enough by his hitters' work with men on base Sunday that he met with all of them in his office yesterday to stress swinging differently with two strikes. The Pirates struck out in all five official at-bats with runners in scoring position. "We took breaking balls for strikes in those situations," McClendon said. "What are we doing? What's our approach?" He advised the hitters to choke up, if necessary, and look to hit to the opposite field.

Jason Bay has a chance for an unusual slice of history. He is 16 for 16 in steal attempts, and the major-league record is 21 for 21 by the New York Mets' Kevin McReynolds in 1988. The Pirates' record was 12 for 12 by pinch-running specialist Miguel Dilone in 1977.