GONZALEZ KEEPS IT UP VS. ANGELS ARIZONA 6, ANGELS 2.

Byline: Gordon Verrell Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - How good a year is Arizona's Luis Gonzalez having? So good that even Barry Bonds is touting him as the National League's Most Valuable Player.

The Diamondbacks' All-Star left fielder demonstrated why Friday night, homering and driving in three runs in Arizona's 5-2 win over the Angels in fromt of 32,777 at Edison Field.

Gonzales hit his 36th homer, which is just two shy of the club record, doubled and singled. That was all Curt Schilling (13-4) needed to end his losing skid at two.

The win also ended the Diamondbacks' losing streak at five as well as the Angels' winning streak at five.

Ismael Valdes (5-5) took the loss.

Scott Spiezio and Garret Anderson his solo home runs off Schilling, which seems to be his trademark. Schilling has allowed a major- league-leading 26 home runs, but 23 of them have come with no one on base, including the last 17.

Schilling pitched into the ninth, turning over a 6-2 lead to Byung-Hyun Kim, who got the last two outs.

Gonzalez, who won the home run derby at this week's All-Star Game in Seattle, cracked a two-run homer in the top of the sixth to give the Diamondbacks the lead for good. He doubled home a run in the eighth, giving him a major-league-leading and career-best 89 RBI.

Gonzalez also scored twice, giving him 77 this season and ranking him second in the league.

Spiezio's two-out homer in the second inning, his fifth of the year - and third in his last five at-bats after hitting just two his first 183 at-bats - gave the Angels a 1-0 lead.

The lead lasted until the sixth, when the Diamondbacks struck for three runs, ending a string of innings in which the Angels had not trailed at 48.

Valdes had allowed just three hits the first five innings, walked none and hadn't allowed a runner past second. But Jay Bell singled with one out in the sixth, then Gonzalez hit his 36th homer to left-center. One out later, Mark Grace hit his sixth. They were the eighth and ninth homers surrendered by Valdes, who two years ago with the Dodgers served up 32.

The Angels got to within a run, 3-2, when Anderson hit his 16th home run with two out in the bottom of the sixth. Anderson has nine RBI in his last four games.

But Arizona got to reliever Ben Weber for two more runs in the eighth that completed the scoring.

Pitching for the first time in 10 days, Weber quickly gave up a single to Bell, then Gonzalez hit a run-scoring double off the right-center-field wall. Gonzalez eventually scored as well on a fielder's choice.

Arizona added one more run in the top of the ninth off Mike Holtz.