ANGELS MAKE BELIEVERS OUT OF GUILLEN, WHITE SOX OFFENSE CONTINUES TO ROLL AND ESCOBAR TURNS IN SOLID OUTING IN WIN VS. CHICAGO ANGELS 6, CHICAGO 3.

Byline: DOUG PADILLA  Staff Writer

CHICAGO -- Even before the Angels cleaned up some unfinished business Monday they had made a believer out of baseball's most opinionated manager.

While Ozzie Guillen has his Chicago White Sox in a fight for their playoff lives, the manager of the defending World Series champions seemed a little envious of the Angels.

``They will be in the playoffs; they should win their division,'' Guillen said about the Angels, just before they defeated his White Sox 6-3 to start their 10-game road trip off on the right track. ``They have too much talent there.

``You talk about hitting and pitching, right now I say the talent these people have is unbelievable talent. If they stay healthy and they play the way they should, there's no doubt they'll be there. They weren't playing the way they know they're going to play.''

As if on cue, the Angels delivered an outing to fit Guillen's description.

Kelvim Escobar handled the pitching side by deftly working out of some key jams and the offense pounded White Sox starter Mark Buehrle with three home runs in consecutive innings. The game was scheduled to make up for a May 11 rainout.

``We came in here and beat a good ballclub, pitched well and got some timely hitting and it added up to a good win,'' manager Mike Scioscia said.

``Any time you come in here, and under these circumstances, and play well, it's a plus.''

Jose Molina, who has started to wrest the catching job away from rookie Mike Napoli, not only guided Escobar to the victory, he added a home run and a double. After getting just 26 at-bats in July, Molina has already started four games in the first week of August, including the past three.

His added playing time is coming just in time to earn him a substantial raise next season. Molina has bonuses for games played this season and 12 more at catcher will raise his 2007 salary from $1.25 million to $1.35 million. If he gets 22 more games behind the plate, it would add on another $100,000 and 32 more would mean another $200,000 on top of that.

With six hits in 11 at-bats this month, including two doubles and a home run, Molina figures to get his chances.

``The bottom of our lineup, especially against lefties, is doing a good job with Robb (Quinlan), Tim Salmon and J-Mo,'' Scioscia said. ``(Molina is) swinging the bat the best he has all season and he's making some adjustments. He worked hard on days he wasn't playing to keep his stroke where it needs to be.''

Quinlan got the Angels started with a home run to lead off the third inning and Vladimir Guerrero added a solo shot in the fourth. Molina had a solo homer in the fifth to give the Angels a 3-1 lead.

It was Quinlan's sixth home run, Guerrero's team-leading 24th and Molina's third.

Escobar gave up a run in the fourth on an infield single by Jermaine Dye and wiggled out of some trouble in the sixth. With runners on first and third with one out, Escobar fell behind 3-0 to Dye before rallying back to strike him out on a changeup.

After Joe Crede singled in a run, Alex Cintron struck out on a foul tip.

``I'm still fighting with my elbow, trying to stay healthy, and doing a lot of treatment, but I feel much better lately,'' Escobar said. ``I'm not really thinking about that. I'm having a game plan and keeping it going.''

The Angels remained focused into the seventh inning, while the White Sox seemed to fade. Buehrle (9-10) was called for a bases-loaded balk when he started to make a pickoff throw to first base and realized nobody was covering the bag. After a run scored on the balk, Chone Figgins delivered a two-run single. The entire rally started with two outs.

The offense was a welcome sight for Escobar (8-9), who 10 times this season was left with a defeat or a no-decision when giving up three earned runs or less.

``It's been tough on me all year, pitching well and not winning many games,'' Escobar said. ``It's great when you see the guys, after two outs, keep fighting and keep battling.''

While Molina's resurgent offense will help him get more playing time, he still prides himself on the other parts of his game.

``It always feel really good when you help the team to win in those situations,'' Molina said.

After Hector Carrasco gave up a run in the eighth on Jim Thome's 34th home run, Francisco Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 27th save.

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) The Angels' Jose Molina hits a double against Chicago White Sox in the ninth inning Monday.

(2) The Angels' Vladimir Guerrero, right, smiles as he celebrates with teammates after the Angels' victory.

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

Box:

ANGELS at CLEVELAND

- Doug Padilla