RIGHT ON THE MONEY ANGELS PUT IT ALL TOGETHER TO FINALLY BEAT DODGERS FREEWAY SERIES: ANGELS 9, DODGERS 2.

Byline: DOUG PADILLA Staff Writer

ANAHEIM -- It was the kind of day when Angels fans gladly would have paid double for a ticket.

Garret Anderson recorded his 2,000th career hit, Orlando Cabrera matched a accomplishment set by Barry Bonds, Mike Napoli cracked twomore home runs, Kelvim Escobar snapped an eight-start winless streak and defense emerged as a key contributor.

The biggest reason to rejoice, though, was a convincing 9-2 victory over the Dodgers to snap a four-game winless streak against the Angels' cross-town rivals.

It might just be that manager Mike Scioscia has refined his motivational skills. After Friday night's defeat, the former Dodger implored his team to play with a little more passion.

``Any time you score nine runs, it's going to look like you have energy,'' Scioscia said. ``But I like the way the guys went about their business during the game. We cracked the door open for them a little bit, and Kelvim had to work out of some jams.''

Escobar had the Dodgers off-balance from the start, but still had to wiggle his way out of a couple of problems. An error by Robb Quinlan put a second runner on base in the third inning, but Escobar struck out Rafael Furcal and got Kenny Lofton on a soft liner to shortstop to end the threat.

In the fourth inning, Juan Rivera threw out Nomar Garciaparra at the plate when he tried to score from second on Andre Ethier's single. In the fifth inning, Rivera also hit cutoff man Cabrera, who fired to Maicer Izturis at third to get Furcal trying to leg out a triple.

``We have been through a tough time defensively, but we're better than we have played all year long,'' said Escobar, who was victimized by bad defense during his winless streak. ``That's what you want to see. We went out there and played good defense and pitched well. That's one of our strengths, and that's going to be the things to get us on top.''

Anderson was typically subdued after reaching his milestone. Batting out of the No. 6 spot for the first time this season, Anderson hit a two-run double in the third inning for his 1,999th hit. In the sixth inning, against reliever Aaron Sele, Anderson singled to left field for No. 2,000.

``The only thing I try to think about is contributing to the team,'' Anderson said. ``Those personal things, they don't really cross my mind at all.''

Anderson wasn't alone in reaching lofty heights. Cabrera walked in the first inning and has now reached base in 58 consecutive games to tie Bonds for the longest such streak since 1960.

As for Escobar, he won his his fifthgame May 12 and finally won No.6 on the first day of July. But it wasn't as if the right-hander was completely to blame for his woes. He has posted a quality start in four of his past five outings.

Then there's Napoli, who has emerged quickly since his major- league debut May 4 to become the Angels' top option at catcher. His 10home runs are tied for the American League lead among rookies and he has delivered eight homers and 18 RBIs in his past 18 starts.

It was a less-than-impressive Dodgers debut for Mark Hendrickson. The tall left-hander, who was recently acquired from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays along with catcher Toby Hall, gave up five runs on seven hits in five innings.

As if that wasn't enough, Hendrickson was hit in the left biceps by a scorching comebacker from Vladimir Guerrero. After recording one more out, Hendrickson's day was done.

Escobar cruised along despite allowing a baserunner in each of his final five innings.

``He's a great pitcher and has great stuff,'' said Garciaparra, who singled in the fourth. ``When he has command of his slider his changeup, his fastball and everything, he uses all his pitches so well. He uses both sides of the plate so well. They swung the bats and got runs for him. That gave them even more confidence and he didn't have to worry about making mistakes.''

While the Angels were making plays in the field, the Dodgers had a day to forget defensively with three errors.

It was an effort that had been more typical of the Angels, who lead the AL in errors with 64 after Quinlan's miscue.

``I like the way the pace of the game went in that we got after it and we kept going,'' Scioscia said. ``When you score runs you're going to look crisper. What I like was making plays. Juan Rivera, throwing out Nomar at the plate, I like aggressiveness to make plays. That's what we need to bring on the defensive end.''

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CAPTION(S):

5 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Angels catcher Mike Napoli, right, is greeted by Garret Anderson at home plate after hitting the first of two home runs against the Dodgers on Saturday.

Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

(2 -- color) New Dodgers pitcher Mark Hendrickson allowed five runs in five innings, but only one was earned.

Keith Birmingham/Staff Photographer

(3) The Dodgers' Rafael Furcal, right, is out at third in the fifth inning, as the Angels' Maicer Izturis makes the tag.

(4) The Angels' Chone Figgins, top, collides with the Dodgers' Matt Kemp after Figgins forced out Kemp at second to complete a double play.

Francis Specker/Associated Press

(5) BILLINGSLEY

Box:

ANGELS vs. DODGERS

- Doug Padilla