Escobar Is Free to Focus on a 6-3 Win

Kelvim Escobar would never admit it, but the fact A.J. Pierzynski was not in the Chicago White Sox’s lineup Monday night may have helped the Angels right-hander maintain his focus throughout a superb six-inning, two-run, six-hit effort, which helped lead the Angels to a 6-3 victory in U.S. Cellular Field.

There were no flashbacks of last year’s American League championship series, when Pierzynski fueled a pair of game-winning rallies against Escobar by taking first on a controversial dropped third strike in Game 2 and by reaching on an error, when Escobar tagged Pierzynski with his glove while the ball was in his hand, in Game 5.

Escobar couldn’t bubble up with anger when Pierzynski came to the plate, a sight that would have stirred memories of that April 29 game in Anaheim, when Escobar hit Pierzynski with a pitch, sparking a war of words between the teams and some harsh comments from Chicago Manager Ozzie Guillen, who called Escobar “dumb.”

Guillen removed any contentiousness when he opted to start veteran catcher Sandy Alomar, who had teamed well with Monday night starter Mark Buehrle the last time the White Sox left-hander pitched.

That enabled Escobar to channel all of his energy toward a lethal lineup that can punish a distracted pitcher. The White Sox lead the league with 166 home runs, and their middle-of-the-order trio of Jim Thome, Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye has combined for 90 homers and 249 runs batted in.

But Escobar, who entered with a 1-9 career record and 6.21 earned-run average against the White Sox, threw six nearly mistake-free innings, striking out seven and walking one to help the Angels start their 10-game, four-city trip -- Monday night was the makeup of a May 11 rainout -- on a good note.

“I know I haven’t had much success against these guys, but I had to go out there and forget about what happened last year, what’s happened in the past,” said Escobar, 8-9. “I had to focus on my game, making good pitches.”

His best deliveries came in the sixth, against Dye, with runners on first and third and one out and the Angels clinging to a 3-1 lead, built on the strength of solo home runs by Robb Quinlan, Vladimir Guerrero and Jose Molina.

Escobar fell behind with three straight balls but came back to strike out Dye with a changeup. Joe Crede hit a run-scoring single, but Escobar struck out Alex Cintron to end the inning with minimal damage.

“That was they key, coming back from 3-0 and punching out Dye,” Escobar said. “That was the game for me. I had to throw a strike. I had to find a way to get him out.”

The Angels broke the game open with a quirky three-run rally in the seventh, loading the bases with two out on Tim Salmon’s walk, Quinlan’s single and Molina’s walk.

With Konerko, the Chicago first baseman, positioned well behind the bag and toward the hole, Buehrle, a left-hander with one of baseball’s best pickoff moves, attempted a back-door pick of Molina.

One problem: Konerko didn’t move to cover the bag.

Most pitchers caught in such a predicament will lob the ball and hope the first baseman gets there in time to catch it, but Buehrle made a throwing motion without releasing the ball.

Salmon scored on the balk for a 4-2 lead, both runners advanced, and Chone Figgins dumped Buehrle’s next pitch into shallow left for a two-run single and a 6-2 lead.

“It was probably more my fault than his,” Konerko said of the miscommunication with Buehrle.

Thome hit a homer against Hector Carrasco in the eighth, but Scot Shields retired two in the eighth. Francisco Rodriguez added a scoreless ninth for his 27th save, and the Angels won their third straight game.

“I don’t know if it counts as a sweep,” Manager Mike Scioscia said of the one-game series, “but we beat a good club, pitched well, got some timely hitting, and it added up to a win.”