Dodgers Control Freeway

The Dodgers don’t have Vladimir Guerrero. They don’t have Odalis Perez or Hideo Nomo in their rotation, at least for now. They don’t have any current All-Stars except closer Eric Gagne. They don’t have much of an offense, having scored fewer runs than any team in the National League except the Montreal Expos.

They do, however, have a better record than the Angels.

The Dodgers are 42-37. The Angels are 42-39, with a player payroll just above $100 million and a record just above .500.

With Paul Lo Duca driving in three runs and Jeff Weaver carrying a shutout into the seventh inning, the Dodgers handed the Angels a 6-2 defeat on Sunday. In winning before an Angel Stadium sellout of 43,823 -- the Angels’ largest crowd of the year -- the Dodgers won two of three weekend games from their Southland rivals.

“They’re a great team, two years removed from being a world champion,” Dodger outfielder Dave Roberts said. “To go out there and respond by winning a series at their place is a good thing. Hopefully, we’ll see them at the end of the season.”

Not at this rate. The Angels skidded to the halfway point of their schedule Sunday, losers of six of their last seven games. Since May 23, when they led the American League West by 3 1/2 games, they have lost 24 of 37 games and fallen 4 1/2 games out of first place, their largest deficit of the season.

“I think everyone realizes we have been in a prolonged dry spell, a lot longer than we’re comfortable with,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “It hasn’t heightened our concern. When these guys get in their style of ball, we know we can get going.”

The Dodgers have rebounded from a six-game losing streak with victories in five of their last seven games, closing within 1 1/2 games of the lead in the National League West.

Roberts acknowledged many fans would “probably not” realize the Dodgers sported a better record than the Angels, champions of the free-agent market.

“Everybody has their predictions. Most of the time, they’re wrong,” Dodger outfielder Milton Bradley said. “You have to go out there and play the games.”

You never know in baseball. Who knew that Weaver would be a more valuable acquisition than Bartolo Colon?

The Angels signed Colon for $51 million last winter, the largest contract the team has awarded to a free-agent pitcher.

In the last two months, he has won once. He has the worst earned-run average of any regular starter in the league. The Angels have thus far refused to put him in the bullpen so he might pitch his way back into form without hurting the team every five days.

The Dodgers pounded Colon on Saturday, then won with Weaver on Sunday. Weaver, accepted for ace Kevin Brown in a winter salary dump, won his sixth game Sunday, one more than Colon.

Weaver shut out the Angels for six innings Sunday, got the first out of the seventh, then gave up three consecutive hits and left matters to Darren Dreifort, Guillermo Mota and Tom Martin. In seven starts in Anaheim, Weaver is 4-1 with a 2.01 ERA.

Kelvim Escobar, the Angels’ most consistent starter, gave up more than four runs for the first time this season. The Dodgers nicked him for a run in the second inning on a single by Robin Ventura and another run in the third on an infield single by Lo Duca. The Dodgers scored four more in the seventh -- on two hits, two walks and two hit batters.