Escobar has it under control

For a few hours Thursday afternoon at Angel Stadium, the Angels could almost forget about their season-long offensive woes and mushrooming list of disabled players.

They found some soothing escape in the legs of Jose Molina, the slow-moving catcher who pulled off his first career steal of home, and the arm of Kelvim Escobar, the hard-luck pitcher who left nothing to chance by logging his first shutout in almost four years.

Even the much-maligned hitters displayed some verve with 13 hits during an 8-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians in which the Angels scored more runs than they had in their previous three games combined.

Gary Matthews Jr. homered from the right side of the plate less than 24 hours after homering from the left side, and Robb Quinlan made the most of a rare start in the cleanup spot with two hits, including a two-run single to break a scoreless tie.

But the star was Escobar, who gave up seven hits and no walks on his way to recording the Angels’ first complete game of the season. Utilizing pinpoint control of his fastball, Escobar had a season-high nine strikeouts and recorded his first shutout since June 8, 2003, against Cincinnati as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays.

“If I can move my fastball around like that, I can get a lot of people out because my secondary pitches are good and I can keep the hitters off balance,” said Escobar, who has given up one run in 16 innings over his last two starts.

Escobar faced only two jams and escaped both with a little help from his friends in the infield. With runners on first and second and one out in the third, Grady Sizemore ripped a pitch to first baseman Quinlan, who started a 3-1-2-5 double play in which Ryan Garko was eventually tagged out in a rundown between third and home.

Then, in the ninth, the Indians hit consecutive singles to put two on with one out. Escobar retired Kelly Shoppach on a popup to the infield, but Jason Michaels hit a smash toward third baseman Matt Brown, who had made his major league debut an inning earlier as a defensive replacement.

Brown fielded the ball cleanly near the foul line and made a long throw to first to get Michaels, prompting the Angels to pour out of the dugout to congratulate Escobar.

“He was amazing today,” Molina said of Escobar, who threw 76 of his 103 pitches for strikes. “He was hitting spots with every pitch and threw every pitch for a strike.”

The Angels surged ahead with a five-run third inning highlighted by Quinlan’s two-run single after the Indians intentionally walked Vladimir Guerrero to load the bases and Matthews’ three-run homer.

But the biggest crowd-pleaser might have come in the fourth, when Molina executed the back end of a double steal that also involved Reggie Willits by sliding into home for his eighth career steal and first of home at any level of baseball.

Even with six players on the disabled list, the Angels find themselves in first place in the American League West, one game ahead of second-place Oakland.

“To have some of the key injuries we’ve had early but still be sitting on top of the division, you can’t be disappointed,” Matthews said. “You’ve got to look at the positives while you look to get better.”

One big reason for the Angels’ success is Escobar (4-1), who suffered through long bouts of poor run support in his first three seasons in Anaheim. So far this year, the Angels are averaging six runs in his starts.

“I’m looking for a big year. I know I can do it,” said Escobar, who lowered his earned-run average to 2.21. “I have the talent and the stuff to be one of the top [pitchers] in the league.

“Sometimes you throw the ball the way I did the last three years here and the record doesn’t show how well you pitched. Hopefully, this is the year and I’m going to take advantage.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com

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Three shutouts in the last two days brought to seven the total of complete-game shutouts pitched in 505 major league games this season:

*--* * April 11: Felix Hernandez, Seattle defeated Boston, 3-0 (one-hitter) * April 18: Mark Buehrle, Chicago (AL) defeated Texas, 6-0 (no-hitter) * April 24: Paul Maholm, Pittsburgh defeated Houston, 3-0 (three-hitter) * April 25: Jarrod Washburn, Seattle defeated Oakland, 2-0 (three-hitter) * May 9: Jason Marquis, Chicago (NL) defeated Pittsburgh, 1-0 (three hitter) * May 10: Kelvim Escobar, Angels defeated Cleveland, 8-0 (seven-hitter) * May 10: Jose Contreras, Chicago (AL) defeated Minnesota, 3-0 (five-hitter)

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Source: SportsTicker