When he walked off the mound in the seventh inning, Paul Byrd raised both his arms above his head to form an "O", then pointed to the sky.

It was a final farewell to Chuck Obremski, the Angels' longtime team chaplain who died Sunday afternoon after a two-year battle with cancer.

Though Obremski was in failing health, he earned the reputation of a fighter, which is exactly what Byrd had to be on the mound Sunday.

Though Byrd wasn't at his best, he still was good enough to make a rare three-run first inning stand up in a 5-3 victory over Detroit on Sunday before 43,076 at Angel Stadium.

The win kept the Angels two games in front of second-place Oakland in the AL West with 13 games remaining.

For at least one afternoon, the Angels were able to rise above most of the issues that have saddled them in an inconsistent second half. They have struggled to score runs, taxed their bullpen and put their starting pitchers in tight spots on an almost nightly basis.

Perhaps they were motivated by news that Obremski died at 1:05 p.m., the precise moment they took the field.

"His goal was to last through the season. In my mind, he did," Byrd said. "He had battled cancer for a couple of years and he didn't feel sorry for himself. He finished strong and went out with a lot of courage and went out fighting, and that's what we want to do as members of the Angels. We want to finish strong on the field."

Like almost all Angels victories in an inconsistent 32-29 second half, it came with nervous moments.

Right-hander Scot Shields, pressed into his club-record 72nd game of the season, entered in the ninth inning with the Angels leading, 5-1. He promptly walked Marcus Thames to lead off the inning and allowed a single to Omar Infante.

Shields struck out Vance Wilson and jumped ahead of pinch-hitter Dmitri Young, 0-and-2, before he bounced three breaking balls in the dirt -- including one for a wild pitch that advanced the runners to second and third. Young, a lifetime .358 hitter against the Angels, worked the count full and lined a fastball up the middle for a single to cut the lead to 5-3.

Closer Francisco Rodriguez was summoned and allowed a bad-hop single to Curtis Granderson, a rookie center fielder who completed a 5-for-5 game. Rodriguez struck out Brandon Inge and fell behind, 3- and-0 ,to Craig Monroe, Detroit's leading home run and RBI producer.

Manager Alan Trammell gave Monroe the OK to swing, but Monroe popped the next pitch to catcher Jose Molina, preserving Rodriguez's 38th save.

The Angels (84-65) had just enough to take three of four games from the lowly Tigers (67-81), who played better than their record and made Byrd labor for each out.

"Paul needed some room to work today, and I think the three runs helped him relax on a day when he didn't have his greatest stuff," Manager Mike Scioscia said. "The support for Paul has been spotty at best this season."

The Angels had scored an average of just less than three runs per game in Byrd's 28 starts entering Sunday, but got off to a good start against spot-starter Matt Ginter (0-1), an underachieving 27- year-old right-hander with four major league victories in five years.

Orlando Cabrera (3-for-4) greeted Ginter with a ground-rule double and advanced to third on Garret Anderson's single. Vladimir Guerrero followed with a run-scoring double, Darin Erstad with a ground out and Juan Rivera with a run-scoring single to give Byrd a 3-0 cushion.

That was more offense than the Angels customarily have given Byrd, a veteran 34-year-old right-hander. While he didn't have his most precise stuff, requiring 56 pitches to get through three innings, he stayed around the plate just enough to be effective.

Byrd (12-10) allowed one run in 6 innings, walked one and struck out six, and managed to pitch into the seventh inning because he needed only 37 pitches to get through the middle three.

"By no means was it a walk in the park for him," Scioscia said. "He had to really work for outs. His pitch count was elevated, which is unusual for him, and he still managed to get us deeper into the game."

Kelvim Escobar relieved Byrd and pitched 1 scoreless innings. He has allowed two earned runs in 11 relief innings since coming off the disabled list this month.

Shields, who tied the club's games pitched record set by right- hander Minnie Rojas in 1967, continued to show signs of fatigue. He has allowed 12 earned runs in his last 18 innings.

Still, the win came to Byrd, who was visibly moved by Obremski's death.

"You've got to wonder sometimes," said a pensive Byrd. "We took the field at 1:05, the exact minute he died. Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe it wasn't, but it was powerful. It was nice that we're able to dedicate a victory to him."