Angels Might See Some of These Guys in September

Unlike some clubs that will pick from what amounts to a minor league scrap heap, the Angels have an abundance of quality triple-A players from which to choose as they prepare to expand their roster to 40 players on Sept. 1.

Leading the way appears to be Salt Lake slugger Robb Quinlan, who is pounding Pacific Coast League pitching. The outfielder-first baseman was tied for the PCL lead with a .341 average and tied for the triple-A lead with 94 runs batted after the first game of a four-game weekend series with Tucson.

“Rob’s swung the bat well throughout his career with the Angels,” said Tony Reagins, the Angels’ director of player development. “He could improve a little bit defensively, but you want to find a spot for his bat in the lineup.”

Quinlan leads the Stingers with 16 home runs and was named PCL player of the week in late July after hitting .455 with two home runs, 16 RBIs and an impressive .939 slugging percentage. The 25-year-old hit for the cycle July 28, going five for six with two doubles, a triple, a home run and seven RBIs.

Also impressive to Reagins has been Salt Lake reliever Francisco Rodriguez. He has compiled an earned-run average below 2.00 in 42 appearances this season with Arkansas and now Salt Lake.

Three other options at Salt Lake are second baseman Chone Figgins, pitcher Mickey Callaway and outfielder Nathan Haynes.

Figgins set a single-season franchise record Thursday night with his 36th stolen base and leads the league with 16 triples, also a franchise record. Some consider the switch-hitting 24-year-old a bit undersized at 5 feet 9, but as Reagins pointed out, “We have a guy playing shortstop in Anaheim that’s not too big either.” That would be 5-8 David Eckstein.

Callaway, a right-hander who is 9-1 with a 1.65 ERA, won his first eight decisions, even while suffering from a sprained back he injured in spring training.

Callaway, who has been on the disabled list twice this season, said his back felt better now and cited his fastball, recently clocked at a season-high 93 mph, as evidence.

Haynes, who has played in only 50 games this season because of a thumb injury, had a 19-game hitting streak through Friday.

“His health has been his issue,” Reagins said. “If he’s healthy and can put together a solid remainder of the season, he could help Anaheim down the line.”

In other Angel system news:

* Rancho Cucamonga right-hander Pedro Liriano pitched the first one-hitter in Quake history July 30, striking out 10 in a 9-0 victory over Visalia. Liriano posted a 1.70 ERA in winning five consecutive starts before Friday night, when he was denied his sixth in a row as the Quakes lost, 4-0, to Lancaster. The 21-year-old was 9-11 with a 3.70 ERA, 151 strikeouts and 61 walks in 143 1/3 innings. “He’s figured out how to get players out,” Reagins said.

* The Class-A Cedar Rapids Kernels recorded their 6,000th win Tuesday after rallying from a five-run deficit to defeat West Michigan, 7-6. Catcher Jeff Mathis got his 38th double, a single-season record for a franchise whose history dates to 1890.... Joe Saunders won his debut for Cedar Rapids on Thursday, allowing one run and two hits, walking one and striking out five in six innings. Saunders, the Angels’ first pick and the 12th overall selection in the June amateur draft, was promoted Monday from rookie-level Provo, where he was 2-1 with a 3.62 ERA.... Arkansas right-hander Mario Mendoza allowed four runs in 2 1/3 innings Aug. 2 during a 6-3 loss to Shreveport, which is managed by Mendoza’s father, Mario Sr.... Second baseman Alberto Callaspo went five for six and drove in four runs for Provo on Monday, hitting his Pioneer League-leading ninth triple.

Dodger System

The Las Vegas 51s, with the best record in the Pacific Coast League, could get a taste of what postseason play holds this weekend when they play a four-game series against Edmonton, their likely first-round opponent.

The series is in Edmonton, but that shouldn’t bother the 51s (71-49), who have won 13 of their last 18 road games and hold the league’s best road record at 39-21.

Outfielder Luke Allen has been hot during the 51s’ last nine games, hitting .429. Infielder Chris Clapinski, who has hit .423 over the last eight games with a home run and six RBIs, has 11 homers this season, one short of his personal record.

* First baseman James Loney, the Dodgers’ top pick in this year’s draft and the 19th selection overall, has been promoted to Class-A Vero Beach after hitting .371 with 22 doubles and five home runs with the Great Falls Dodgers of the rookie-level Pioneer League.... Jacksonville right-hander Scott Proctor struck out 11 batters, the most in his career, over seven innings July 30 in a 6-0 victory over Mobile. It was a sparkling moment in an otherwise dull season for Proctor, who is 5-8 with a 3.67 ERA.

California League

Lancaster, which finished last in the Southern Division’s first-half standings, has undergone a worst-to-first transformation in the second half, thanks in part to some hitting streaks. Third baseman Brian Barden recently put together a 12-game hitting streak, and outfielder Dwight Edge had an 11-game streak.

Third baseman Corey Myers’ 17-game hitting streak was still alive heading into the JetHawks’ Saturday game against Rancho Cucamonga. Myers had hit .410 during his streak, the longest this season for Lancaster (26-22).

The news hasn’t been all good for Lancaster, though. JetHawk pitchers issued a franchise-record 15 walks July 28 in a 10-5 loss to Lake Elsinore. Six of the batters who walked scored, including five of the first eight. Starter Phil Stockman issued seven walks over four innings in picking up the loss.

* Jeff Clark, a right-handed pitcher for San Jose who ran his shutout-inning streak to 29 while winning his final eight games for the Giants, found double-A hitters a bit tougher to master after his recent promotion to Shreveport of the Texas League.

Clark allowed five earned runs in five innings during his Shreveport debut, surrendering 11 hits and one walk while striking out four in a no-decision.

Those numbers were in stark contrast to those he produced during his eight-game winning streak, when he struck out 57 and walked only five in 58 1/3 innings while recording an 0.93 ERA.

* San Bernardino third baseman Justin Leone collected six hits, two of them home runs, to go with two walks July 31 against Lancaster. But Leone was left on base four times for the Stampede, which stranded 21 runners and lost, 15-14, despite outhitting the JetHawks, 22-16.

Around the Nation

Goleta Dos Pueblos High graduate Scott Randall recorded his 14th consecutive victory Thursday when he pitched a complete game for triple-A Edmonton, an 8-2 win over Calgary.

The right-hander, who started the streak with two victories for double-A New Britain before being promoted, has tied Scranton pitcher Joe Roa for the longest winning streak in the minors this season.

With 12 straight victories for Edmonton, Randall needs four more to tie the Pacific Coast League record for consecutive wins. That distinction is held by Frank Browning, who in 1909 won 16 in a row for the San Francisco Seals.

* Eric Martins, a second baseman with the Long Beach Breakers, set a Western Baseball League record when he hit in 31 consecutive games.

Martins, who played at Cerritos College and Long Beach State, hit .360 with six doubles and 18 RBIs during the streak, which ended July 21.

For the season, the Yorba Linda resident is hitting .326 with 14 doubles, two home runs and 42 RBIs.

Martins played in the Oakland A’s organization for seven seasons before joining the Breakers, an independent league team that plays at Blair Field. The Breakers were tied with Solano for first place in the WBL’s Southern Division after the first game of a three-game weekend series against Yuba-Sutter.