Escobar stuffs Yankees

If they say you have potential when you’re 21, that’s great. If they say you have potential when you’re 31, not so great.

Kelvim Escobar took another huge step in shedding his label as an underachiever Saturday, stopping the New York Yankees on one run over seven innings of the Angels’ 3-1 victory before 52,536 at Yankee Stadium.

Since the start of the 2005 season, the only American League starters to pitch 250 innings with a lower earned-run average than Escobar are Johan Santana and Roy Halladay.

Santana owns two Cy Young awards, Halladay one.

“I know for sure I can be a Cy Young [winner],” Escobar said. “When I see the guys that have won the Cy Young, there’s no doubt.

“I think I have good stuff. I’m very talented. It’s every pitcher’s dream. But you’ve got to take it one day at a time.”

The Angels rode a three-run first inning to victory, with Gary Matthews Jr. tripling home the first two runs and scoring the other one on a single by Casey Kotchman.

Kotchman went three for three with a walk, raising his batting average to an even .300. The Angels shoot for the sweep today, with John Lackey on the mound.

In a rotation that features Lackey and 2005 Cy Young winner Bartolo Colon, the ace could be Escobar, if the criterion is pure stuff.

“I think so,” catcher Jose Molina said. “He’s probably better. Escobar is one of those guys that has five pitches. That makes him harder to hit.”

But it’s always one thing or another with Escobar. It could be a nagging injury to his shoulder, or his elbow, or his knee.

It could be the defense. He gave up the most unearned runs in the majors last season.

It could be poor run support. He had the worst run support of any AL West starter last season -- except Jamie Moyer, traded out of the division in August.

At some point, he has to win. Since the start of 2005, Santana is 40-17, Halladay is 32-11 and Escobar 20-18 with a 3.31 ERA.

“When you have a good ERA, if you don’t win many games, it won’t show how well you pitch,” Escobar said. “I’ve been through that. If you don’t have a good ERA and you win 15 or 20 games, people say you’re a good pitcher.”

He can do both, if he can command so many pitches with regularity. He did that Saturday, striking out eight and giving up one extra-base hit.

“For me, he’s extremely unhittable when he’s doing that,” interim manager Ron Roenicke said. “The four off-speed pitches are as good as anybody’s in the league. Now you command a fastball, with velocity, and put it on both sides of the plate.”

Said Molina: “He was amazing today. He’s been amazing all year.”

Escobar is 6-2 with a 2.64 ERA, joining Lackey in ranking among league leaders in victories and ERA. Escobar has a 1.23 ERA with Molina catching and a 4.08 ERA with Mike Napoli catching, but he said he is comfortable with either catcher.

Roenicke, managing on the day Mike Scioscia attended his son’s high school graduation, hardly faced a decision all afternoon.

The Angels’ blueprint came to life Saturday, with strong starting pitching and just enough offense, with Scot Shields pitching the eighth and Francisco Rodriguez earning his 15th save in the ninth. Rodriguez gave up two hits with two out, but struck out the side.

“When we have games like this,” Roenicke said, “it makes it really easy for me.”

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bill.shaikin@latimes.com