CHICAGO — Taylor Ward cannot be stopped, and during his first game hitting second rather than leadoff for the Orioles, the lineup maneuver from manager Craig Albernaz paid off.

Just to see what it would look like, Albernaz flipped Gunnar Henderson and Ward in the order. And twice during Baltimore’s series-ending 5-3 win against the Chicago White Sox Ward’s double drove in Henderson.

That was just part of Ward’s superb performance. He finished with four hits for the second time in his career — and second time this season — and became the first Orioles player to record nine doubles in an eight-game span.

“It’s been the same Taylor since spring training, just great at-bats,” Albernaz said. “He grinds out at-bats. He makes pitchers work, forces them in the strike zone, lays off pitches out of the strike zone, and he gets his swing off. It’s been fun to watch.”

The hitting clinic from Ward began in the third inning. He pulled yet another double into the left field corner, and Henderson chugged around the bases to score. It was just the start of a performance that shows why Ward might be the exact sort of lineup addition Baltimore needed.

The Orioles traded right-hander Grayson Rodriguez to the Los Angeles Angels to acquire Ward, and before the Pete Alonso signing, it appeared as though he was the major right-handed-hitting addition. Alonso, who has hit the ball hard routinely but has little to show for it, also doubled Wednesday.

But so far Ward has been the star, with an on-base-plus-slugging percentage of 1.038. And that’s without a home run to his name.

“I think having just a line drive approach is good,” Ward said. “And, once I start catching more out front, hopefully I see the ball flying a little more, but as of right now, it’s all good. It’s good to get these wins.”

Ward launched a career-high 36 homers last year. That wasn’t necessarily his intention. Ward believes in the science of hitting, and his goal is to hit line drives over an infielder’s head. That way, if he misses slightly, strong contact that exits at around a 30-degree launch angle will be a homer and hard contact at a 10-degree angle can still shoot through the infield.

He prefers his launch angle to be 16-17 degrees.

“His home runs should be misses,” said Trent Woodward, Ward’s good friend who serves as a hitting adviser. “His doubles are when we feel like he’s hitting his best.”

Ward, then, is hitting at his best currently. Just look at his three doubles.

Against right-hander Sean Burke, who is a University of Maryland product, Ward pulled a front-hit slider for a double, scoring Henderson from first. And Adley Rutschman’s groundout later in the third inning plated Ward.

In the seventh, Ward flipped a breaking ball into left field for his second double. And in the ninth he followed Henderson’s double with a gapper of his own that provided an insurance run.

“He’s going to get out there for you, so it’s awesome to be able to have somebody in scoring position,” Ward said of Henderson. “With the lineup stuff, it doesn’t matter to me. Hit me anywhere. It’s all the same.”

Alonso’s two-bagger in the sixth inning helped spur the Orioles to a .500 record, too. Tyler O’Neill followed with a single, Ryan Mountcastle walked, and a passed ball and Dylan Beavers’ sacrifice fly scored two runs.

Those breakthroughs covered for the three runs against right-hander Kyle Bradish across five innings. Bradish, making his third start of the year, completed five innings for the first time but still lacked some command. He struck out seven and walked three and, in the second inning, five straight hits led to two White Sox runs.

But behind Bradish the bullpen put up zeroes and it finished with right-hander Rico Garcia recording his first career save. When Garcia left the mound, he raised his arms and crossed them in an X to honor his grandpa, as he has since last year. It was an especially meaningful gesture after his first save.

“I know he’s up there smiling and just happy for me,” Garcia said. “As soon as I got that last out, I just instantly thought of him and my whole family.”

In the fifth, a mental mistake from Bradish may have been more costly had Baltimore not recovered the next inning. After walking a batter to load the bases, Bradish mishandled Rutschman’s toss back to the mound. He then didn’t hustle to pick up the ball, which allowed Chase Meidroth to race home from third.

Bradish was charged with two errors in that sequence — first the missed catch and another when he fired a throw home to the backstop, allowing the other runners to advance.

Immediately after the inning, Bradish and Albernaz spoke in the tunnel. Bradish owned the mistake to Albernaz, his teammates and to the media after the game. He called it “childish behavior” and said it won’t occur again.

“I voiced my frustration with myself, and nobody’s going to be harder on that than myself, and he knows that,” Bradish said. “The team knows that.”

Albernaz added: “That play shouldn’t have happened with KB. KB is frustrated. We talked. You know he’s frustrated. He owned up to it, and we had a good conversation.”

That play proved much less consequential because Ward just kept hitting. It was a stunning display, and it only reinforces why Ward is here.

And he helped secure the series sweep, firmly leaving the three losses to Pittsburgh at the beginning of this road trip in the rearview mirror.

“We’re cracking the surface of what this team is capable of,” Bradish said. “It’s early, our hitters are starting to get going, and as [for] myself, I’m going to be a lot better moving forward.”

This article has been updated.