Escobar finally has an off day - Cy Young candidate can't get out of the third inning in the Angels' 7-6 loss to the Rangers.

But something Saturday seemed to suck the life out of the Angels, who got a rare dud of a start from Kelvim Escobar and, in the words of Manager Mike Scioscia, had "too many things slip through the cracks on the offensive and defensive end."

The result was a 7-6 loss to the Texas Rangers that put a crimp in Escobar's Cy Young Award campaign, as well as his quest to win 20 games, prevented the Angels from boosting their 6 1/2 -game lead over Seattle in the American League West and had Scioscia concerned about his team's overall play.

"We've been playing at a high level for a long time, but we've had two days when we haven't played the way we can," Scioscia said. "For the most part, we've had two games where we didn't get things done. We were fortunate to come away with a win, but we have to pick it up."

The Angels won Friday night despite Vladimir Guerrero's dropped fly ball in right field, which cost them two runs, and some shaky relief work.

They made Saturday's game interesting in the ninth when Garret Anderson followed Orlando Cabrera's double and Guerrero's walk with a three-run home run to right field off left-hander C.J. Wilson, pulling the Angels to within a run and giving Anderson 21 runs batted in over his last 11 games.

But Wilson recovered to retire Maicer Izturis on a pop to second base and Kendry Morales on a fly ball to left for his ninth save, as the Rangers won for the sixth time in seven games.

Escobar, who entered with a four-game win streak, lasted only 2 2/3 innings -- his second-shortest outing of the season -- giving up five runs and six hits, striking out six and walking four. His record fell to 15-7, and his earned run average jumped from 2.77 to 2.99. He fell to 4-9 lifetime against the Rangers.

After facing three batters in the first inning, Escobar was zapped by a 39-pitch second in which he walked three and gave up a two-run double to David Murphy. Singles by Michael Young and Marlon Byrd, Brad Wilkerson's two-run double and Jarrod Saltalamacchia's RBI single knocked out Escobar in the third.