Winfield, Angels Moving Up, 7-2 : Baseball: Outfielder, among all-time leaders in RBIs, increases this season’s total to 38, second best in the AL.

Dave Winfield has only to point to the career RBI list, where his name already ranks above those of Joe DiMaggio and Willie Stargell, to prove he rates among the most prolific players in baseball history.

And after his three-run home run helped the Angels to a 7-2 victory over Toronto Sunday at the sold-out SkyDome, Winfield can say he has hit more homers than all but 25 players.

“I don’t really look at the numbers, but I’m glad people tell me. It’s incentive for me and it’s a thrill,” said Winfield, who has five homers in his last seven games and 388 for his career. He is 23rd in RBIs with 1,554. But staying among the RBI and home run leaders this season means more to him than the record books. For every run he drives in--and he has a team-leading 38, one fewer than American League leader Dave Henderson--Winfield silences those who considered him finished when he underwent back surgery two years ago at 37.

“Everybody you bring up (on the all-time lists) is somebody special, but I like to compare myself to the guys of today,” he said. “I like to prove I belong up there with the leaders.”

Winfield proved himself Sunday with four RBIs, and Jack Howell hit a two-run home run to help Jim Abbott (5-4) extend his winning streak to a personal-best five games.

Abbott’s detractors said he had to prove he belonged in the major leagues after he went 10-14 in 1990 and lost his first four decisions this season. He, too, has left little room for doubt lately.

The left-hander hasn’t lost in his last six outings, since a 7-3 defeat April 28 at Oakland. Including his 8 1/3 innings Sunday, he has given up 10 earned runs in 45 innings, an earned-run average of 2.00. He gave up nine hits and struck out four, throwing a lively fastball that repeatedly jammed hitters and resulted in four broken-bat outs.

“He was in their kitchens and rattling their pots and pans,” Winfield said.

Abbott faltered in the ninth, giving up a single to Glenallen Hill and a walk to Rene Gonzales before being relieved by Mark Eichhorn. Eichhorn retired Devon White on a grounder back to the mound and struck out pinch-hitter Mark Whiten to end a winning (4-2) road trip for the Angels.

“I wouldn’t say everything’s working, but things are going real well,” said Abbott, whose record rose above .500 for the first time since Sept. 20, 1989, when he was 12-11.

“The difference between last year and this year is like the difference between your sophomore year in college and your junior year. You know which classes to take, which (professors) to take and you know who to sit next to in class.”

Rader gave Abbott an A-plus for his efforts the past month.

“He’s really throwing well. I haven’t seen too many pitchers in the league over the last four, five starts he’s had pitching better than him,” Rader said. “His velocity is outstanding, his breaking pitches are outstanding and his composure is outstanding.”

A run-scoring double by Wally Joyner and Winfield’s homer against Jim Acker (1-3) gave Abbott a 4-0 lead in the third. Howell’s homer, his first hit since coming off the disabled list and first in 12 at-bats, made the score 6-0.

Toronto scored in the fourth on a double by Joe Carter and a single by Ed Sprague, but the Angels matched that in the fifth on Winfield’s RBI single. Carter’s eighth homer of the season, leading off the sixth, was the last run Abbott gave up.

“I think I can get better,” said Abbott, who was 2-4 with a 5.31 ERA after 10 starts last season and didn’t win his fifth game until his 16th start.

The same is true for Winfield, who didn’t get his 38th RBI last season until July 31. He is 16 for 35 since May 24, and has increased his batting average to .276.

“I’m about where I want to be at this point, but the team isn’t. We’re not in first place--yet,” said Winfield, whose team moved to within one game of first-place Oakland. “That’s what we’re shooting for.

“We played two tough teams on this trip, Chicago and here, and we won four out of six. We’ve won seven series in a row, even when we didn’t win the first game (four times). Those are good signs.”