Angels Whole Hearted in Win

The way Kelvim Escobar, Vladimir Guerrero and Garret Anderson played Thursday night at Angel Stadium, it seemed as if the short-handed Angels could have taken on the Seattle Mariners with every position vacated except pitcher and the corner outfield spots.

Escobar rarely missed the strike zone during seven sharp innings, Guerrero hit a three-run double and Anderson showed unusual energy on the bases and in the outfield during the Angels’ 5-2 victory.

The Angels looked whole despite competing without a full complement of players following the suspensions of three players and Manager Mike Scioscia for their role in a flurry of hit batters and a benches-clearing brawl Wednesday against the Texas Rangers.

Second baseman Adam Kennedy and reliever Kevin Gregg each began serving four-game suspensions, with Gregg watching part of the game from the press box.

Scioscia, suspended for three games, watched the game on television from his office inside the clubhouse, according to the team, with the managerial duties shared by bench coach Ron Roenicke and pitching coach Bud Black.

“You’re used to seeing Scioscia out there and the guys in the dugout, so you could feel a difference,” said center fielder Chone Figgins, who had three hits.

Reliever Brendan Donnelly was available but did not appear after appealing his four-game suspension.

The Angels were also without Juan Rivera, but only because Scioscia had given the slugger the day off after he had played in every game for more than a month.

None of the absences proved costly as the Angels pulled to within six games of idle Oakland in the American League West, gaining ground on their division rival for the first time since Aug. 1, when they went from 1 1/2 games out to half a game out.

Escobar held the Mariners scoreless until Kenji Johjima scored from third base on Willie Bloomquist’s double-play groundout in the seventh inning. Escobar (9-10), who had given up five runs in six innings in his previous start, a 5-2 loss the New York Yankees, surrendered seven hits and only one run and struck out seven Thursday while seldom deviating from the strike zone. He threw 70 of 97 pitches for strikes and said afterward that it was merely a matter of “trusting my stuff a little more.”

“Kelvim might have been as locked in as we’ve seen him this year,” Scioscia said.

Anderson legged out a triple and made two dazzling plays in the outfield, tracking down a Yuniesky Betancourt drive into the left-center field gap in the fifth inning and corralling a sinking liner off the bat of Adrian Beltre in the sixth.

“I think he plays a lot harder for this manager than for the other guy,” Roenicke joked of Anderson. “Two huge catches.”

Said Anderson, who has played the entire season with soreness in the arch of his left foot: “I feel better than I did when the season started.”

After hitting his second triple of the season in the fourth off Seattle starter Jamie Moyer, Anderson scored on Howie Kendrick’s sacrifice fly to give the Angels a 2-0 lead. The Mariners cut the deficit in half in the seventh before Guerrero broke the game open in the bottom half of the inning with his bases-clearing double against reliever Mark Lowe.

Angels reliever Scot Shields also wobbled a bit, surrendering two doubles in the ninth before closer Francisco Rodriguez secured the final two outs for his 32nd save.