Angels manage a little history

There’s a new leader in the clubhouse. The Angels took advantage of Kelvim Escobar’s strong start and a pair of Chicago miscues to defeat the White Sox, 5-1, Friday night, giving Mike Scioscia career win No. 626, more than any manager in the franchise’s 47-year history.

When Scot Shields struck out Rob Mackowiak for the final out, snapping the Angels’ two-game losing streak and extending Chicago’s losing streak to five, it moved Scioscia past Bill Rigney atop the Angels’ managerial leaderboard and onto a pedestal where Scioscia felt a little uncomfortable.

“It far more reflects on the organization and the great talent we’ve had on the field,” Scioscia said. “I’m happy for our coaching staff, our minor league staff, everyone that can share in it. It’s a nice achievement. ... I don’t view it as an individual accomplishment; it’s anything but.”

Never was that more apparent than after the game, when Shields gave Scioscia the game ball. Scioscia handed it back. The ball later appeared on Scioscia’s office desk with the number “626” written on it.

What will Scioscia do with it?

“I’m going to give it back to Shields,” he said. “Players win games.”

Scioscia said he had no plans to save the lineup card from the game. What would he keep?

“Just the memories, the feeling,” he said. “It’s been a blast for us as an organization to have the stability to achieve this. It’s fun. You want to keep it going.”

Scioscia never met Rigney, a personable manager who took over the expansion Angels in 1961 and guided them to a 625-707 record over 8 1/2 years.

Like Scioscia, Rigney often spoke of the importance of “having a passion for the game,” and like Rigney, who had had two former players (Jim Fregosi and Buck Rodgers) go on to become big league managers, Scioscia had two coaches, Joe Maddon and Bud Black, move on to managerial jobs.

“I’ve talked to some of the sportswriters who followed the club then, and they relayed some stories [about Rigney],” Scioscia said. “He obviously did things right, because he built a great foundation here.”

The Angels, under Scioscia, have been built mostly on strong starting pitching and lockdown relief, and Escobar, who allowed one run and six hits in seven innings, and Shields combined for a solid one-two punch Friday night.

The White Sox have given Escobar trouble; the right-hander entered Friday with a 3-9 career record and 5.57 earned-run average against them.

But these White Sox have hardly been a bother to opposing pitchers--they rank last in the American League with a .219 average and last with 100 runs, and of the nine players in Friday night’s lineup, one had an average better than .239.

After pitching out of a two-on, no-out jam in the second inning and allowing Jermaine Dye’s run-scoring double in the third, Escobar blanked Chicago on three hits through the seventh inning, and Shields added two shutout innings for the save.

The Angels took a 1-0 lead in the first when Reggie Willits walked, stole second, took third on Orlando Cabrera’s single and scored on Gary Matthews Jr.’s sacrifice fly.

Two Chicago gaffes keyed the Angels’ three-run second. After Erick Aybar’s leadoff single, Shea Hillenbrand grounded to the mound, but pitcher Jose Contreras’ throw went off the glove of second baseman Tadahito Iguchi for an error.

Mike Napoli followed with a towering fly to center, but Darin Erstad, making his first Angel Stadium appearance since signing with the White Sox, lost the ball in the twilight.

The ball dropped about 15 feet behind Erstad for an RBI double, and Cabrera delivered a huge two-out blow, lining a two-run single to left-center for a 4-0 lead. The Angels added an insurance run on Casey Kotchman’s RBI single in the eighth.

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com