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Escobar sets sights on 20-win campaign

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Times Staff Writer

Kelvim Escobar established a career high in wins Sunday, but was already looking ahead to his next milestone: his 20th victory.

“Twenty wins has been a dream for me since the start,” Escobar said. “That’s the goal for any starter.”

Escobar won his fourth decision in a row and improved to 15-6 in the Angels’ 3-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Angel Stadium, giving up a run and six hits over eight innings. Escobar’s previous best of 14 wins was set with Toronto in 1999, when he had a 5.69 earned-run average.

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“I feel happy because I feel I deserve it, the way I’ve pitched, throwing very consistently,” Escobar said of his latest victory. “At the same time, I have to congratulate my teammates because they’ve done a very good job helping me out, scoring runs and playing good defense. To win games, everything has to work together. There are a lot of things as a starter that are out of your hands.”

Escobar lowered his ERA to 2.77, second in the American League to the 2.72 of Oakland’s Dan Haren.

For the fourth time in five starts, Escobar gave up one or fewer earned runs. In the process, he improved to 7-1 when taking the mound after an Angels loss, a situation in which he has a 2.45 ERA.

Pitching coach Mike Butcher was most pleased with how Escobar didn’t walk any batters. With Francisco Rodriguez retiring the side in the ninth inning to earn his 33rd save, the Angels’ staff didn’t issue any free passes.

Said left fielder Garret Anderson: “That’s vintage Kelvim Escobar right there.”

Escobar said he didn’t feel particularly sharp in the first two innings, but he nonetheless retired the six batters he faced. He had a perfect game through four innings.

Center fielder Gary Matthews Jr. dropped a fly ball that contributed to a run being scored in the fifth inning, but an unfazed Escobar blanked the Blue Jays over the next three innings. He struck out Gregg Zaun and forced Matt Stairs to ground out to shortstop to escape a seventh-inning jam in which he had two runners on base.

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“He probably had enough to finish the ninth if the circumstances were a little different,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “It’s good to see he held his stuff that deep into a game.”

Escobar said he pleaded with Scioscia to complete the game.

“I felt strong,” Escobar said. “I told Mike, ‘Let’s score some more runs, I want to finish it up.’ ”

Anderson’s solo home run in the second inning was his 250th and made him only the 17th player to collect 2,000 hits, 250 home runs, 450 doubles and 1,000 runs batted in for one franchise.

Asked if that meant anything to him, the 34-year-old Anderson deadpanned, “I’ve just been here for a while.”

Casey Kotchman will start swinging a bat in the “next day or two,” Scioscia said. Kotchman said he hasn’t regained enough feeling in the thumb of his injured left hand to properly grip a baseball. “We’re just trying to get the swelling out,” Kotchman said.

Bartolo Colon felt fine in the wake of his start for triple-A Salt Lake on Saturday night, Scioscia said. Colon will make the second of an expected three-start rehabilitation assignment this week, probably Thursday.

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com

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