Angels’ Escobar is the star of game

Kelvim Escobar’s plans for Tuesday include dangling his toes in the water and spending some quality time with son Kelvim Jr. while vacationing in Cancun, Mexico.

Baseball will have to wait. Should Escobar receive a call to serve as a last-minute injury replacement for an All-Star pitcher, well, American League Manager Jim Leyland might as well look elsewhere.

“I’m ready to go to Cancun,” Escobar said. “No offense to them.”

Escobar has made his case for All-Star inclusion, and it is a strong one. He pitched seven superb innings Thursday night during the Angels’ 5-2 victory over Texas at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington to conclude a first half in which he went 10-3 with a 3.19 earned-run average.

“He’s an All-Star, there’s no doubt about it,” Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He and John Lackey have been neck and neck the whole first half.”

Lackey (11-5) and Escobar are the first Angels duo to win 10 games before the All-Star break since Mark Langston and Chuck Finley accomplished the feat in 1991. Lackey will pitch for the American League All-Stars on Tuesday at AT&T; Park in San Francisco and Escobar will not after failing to secure the final spot in Internet fan voting that ended Thursday.

Escobar finished fourth out of five contenders, behind Boston’s Hideki Okajima, Detroit’s Jeremy Bonderman and Minnesota’s Pat Neshek.

“I’m not disappointed,” Escobar said. “I did what I could control, and the rest I couldn’t do anything about.”

Escobar ruled the Rangers, giving up only three hits and one run while striking out eight and walking three. Michael Young nicked the right-hander for a run-scoring single in the first inning -- the first run Escobar has surrendered in the first inning this season -- before Escobar shut Texas down over the next six innings.

Vladimir Guerrero and Jose Molina had run-scoring singles and Maicer Izturis, making his first start since May 20, added a two-run triple for the Angels, whose 10 hits were as many as they had totaled in the first two games of the series.

The Angels have consistently produced runs for Escobar this season for the first time in his four years in Anaheim.

Putting together an impressive first half is another first for a player who was 39-46 with a 4.77 ERA in his career before the All-Star break coming into 2007.

“Ten wins in the first half, it’s a lot,” Escobar said. “But the most important thing is we’re in first place, and we want to continue that. I’m going to keep working hard and stay healthy. That’s going to be the key for me.”

The Angels also might want to consider having Escobar continue pitching to Molina. In seven starts with Molina as the catcher, including Thursday, Escobar has a 1.35 ERA. In nine starts with Mike Napoli behind the plate, that figure increases to 5.00.

“Right now there’s certainly a great trend with Jose Molina and Kelvim, and we’ll look at that closely,” Scioscia said, “but I think when Kelvim is throwing well it’s not going to really have that much of an influence who’s behind the plate.”

Said Escobar: “Jose’s always caught me at my best. We get on the same page very well, but I feel very comfortable too throwing to Nap. I’m not doing anything different.”

Escobar won’t start again until the Angels play host to Texas after the All-Star break. But first there will be a little side trip to Mexico.

“Just relax, forget about baseball a little bit,” Escobar said, “and come back strong.”

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ben.bolch@latimes.com