Angels’ table-setters make meal of Dodgers

Take it from the top. That’s where any discussion of the Angels’ resurgent offense, which is purring along without injured cleanup batter Garret Anderson and hard-hitting second baseman Howie Kendrick, must begin, according to center fielder Gary Matthews Jr.

The Angels posted another six-spot Saturday night, which is about what they’ve averaged the last 10 games, busting open a tight game with a three-run sixth inning en route to a 6-2 victory over the Dodgers before a record regular-season crowd of 44,380 in Angel Stadium.

Simi Valley native Jered Weaver, facing the team he idolized as a kid, held the Dodgers to two runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out six, to improve to 3-3, and Robb Quinlan (bloop two-run double) and Shea Hillenbrand (run-scoring single) provided big hits in the sixth.

Mike Napoli added two hits, including a solo home run in the second, Reggie Willits led off the first inning with a hit or a walk for the sixth time in eight games, and No. 2 batter Orlando Cabrera had two hits and a walk, as the Angels won for the ninth time in 11 games.

The rotation, as expected, has keyed the run -- starters have limited opponents to three runs or less in 20 of the last 25 games -- but so has the offense, which has scored 63 runs in the last 10 games.

“Look at the job the top of the order has done,” said Matthews, who moved from the leadoff spot to cleanup on May 11. “Reggie has had some great at-bats, he’s getting on base consistently, and this team is aggressive on the basepaths -- that forces teams to make plays.

“Orlando has been on fire, getting on base and getting hits, and that opens up the offense. We said we were going to click sooner or later, and when those one-two guys get on base, it’s so much easier to score runs.”

Willits took over in left field in late April and is batting .366 with a .448 on-base percentage, leading the team with 10 stolen bases in 10 attempts, ranking second with 15 walks and fourth with 20 runs.

Cabrera was batting .258 on May 10 but is hitting .436 (17 for 39) with eight runs batted in over his last nine games, pushing his average to .298. He ranks second on the team with 25 runs and 22 RBIs.

Contributions from Hillenbrand, who has five hits and five RBIs in his last three games, pushing his average to .237, and Napoli, who is 11 for 32 (.344) in his last nine games, pushing his average to .239, are beginning to trickle in.

And Vladimir Guerrero (.340, 10 homers, 37 RBIs) and Matthews (.295, six homers, 22 RBIs, team-high 30 runs) have been solid all season.

“There are a lot of things you can point to, but we have some roles we’ve established,” Manager Mike Scioscia said of the offense. “Reggie is doing his thing, and Orlando is doing a great job getting hits and letting Reggie run.

“Vlad and Gary are producing, Napoli is starting to square some balls up, Shea is getting some key hits. It’s not one thing. It’s chemistry. Guys are getting on, running the bases well and scoring runs.”

And being a nuisance, which Scioscia loves.

Willits opened the first inning Saturday with a single, stole second and scored on Dodgers second baseman Jeff Kent’s throwing error on Guerrero’s potential double-play grounder.

Homers by Kent and Napoli in the second, and Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier’s RBI single in the fourth left the score tied, 2-2.

Napoli walked to open the fifth, took third on Erick Aybar’s run-and-hit single through a vacated second-base hole and scored on Chone Figgins’ double-play ball for a 3-2 Angels lead.

Guerrero’s single and Matthews’ double in the sixth preceded Quinlan’s soft, two-run double to left and Hillenbrand’s hard RBI single to left.

“It’s hard to defend because they just get a little [bloop] hit here, a [bloop] hit there, move a runner here, get a hard-hit base hit there, and they don’t slow down,” Kent said of the Angels. “They don’t strike out much, and they’re a scrappy team.”

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com