Quinlan Is Key Man for Angels

It’s a tribute to the Angels’ depth when one of the hot topics on fan message boards and postgame radio shows has been whether Manager Mike Scioscia should pull Robb Quinlan from games in the late innings for defensive purposes.

And the fact that most fans can’t understand why Scioscia would even think of removing Quinlan’s bat in favor of Alfredo Amezaga’s glove speaks volumes to the extraordinary -- and equally unexpected -- contributions Quinlan has made to the club over the last two weeks.

The rookie utility player hit a solo home run to wake up a sluggish offense in the fifth inning Sunday and capped a two-run rally in the sixth with a tiebreaking, two-out, run-scoring double to lift the Angels to a 3-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners in front of a sellout crowd of 43,412 at Angel Stadium.

Right-hander Bartolo Colon (10-8) won his fifth straight start -- all with backup catcher Jose Molina behind the plate -- holding the Mariners to two runs and eight hits in six innings. And the Angels won for the fifth time in six games, remaining 2 1/2 games behind Oakland in the American League West.

With closer Troy Percival and setup men Francisco Rodriguez and Brendan Donnelly deemed off-limits by Scioscia because of their extensive workloads in recent days, Kevin Gregg (1 2/3 scoreless innings) and Scot Shields (1 1/3 perfect innings) combined for three key relief innings, Shields getting his fourth save.

But the headliner was Quinlan, a non-factor most of the season until emerging in late July as the Angels’ temporary solution at third base, a position he hadn’t made a major league start at until June 18 at Houston.

With a groin injury to center fielder Garret Anderson moving starting third baseman Chone Figgins to the outfield, Quinlan, who began the season at triple-A Salt Lake, has started 12 of the Angels’ last 13 games, 10 of them at third base.

During that span, the former University of Minnesota standout has batted .489 with three home runs, five doubles and 13 runs batted in, raising his average from .250 to .342, and has provided errorless -- if not spectacular -- defense at third, a position he rarely played in five minor league seasons.

“Q has pulled himself up from a guy who was going to battle for at-bats to a guy we want to make sure we get at-bats for,” Scioscia said. “That’s important for us, because he’s been killing the ball.”

Seattle right-hander Ryan Franklin held the Angels to two hits and no runs in the first four innings Sunday, and Bucky Jacobsen’s two-run home off Colon in the top of the fourth staked the Mariners to a 2-0 lead.

Quinlan, leading off the fifth, jumped on a Franklin fastball and launched it over the wall in center to pull the Angels within 2-1. “I was just trying to get on base,” Quinlan said. “He left one over the plate, and I got a hold of it.”

Anderson opened the sixth with a single, and Vladimir Guerrero lined a ground-rule double to left, putting runners on second and third. Jose Guillen’s fly ball to right was too shallow to score Anderson, but Anderson tagged and scored the tying run on Darin Erstad’s sacrifice fly to center.

Quinlan then doubled past the diving Justin Leone at third, and Guerrero trotted home with the eventual winning run.

Minor injuries to Anderson, Guerrero, Guillen and shortstop David Eckstein have kept Quinlan, who can play the corner infield and outfield spots, busy for two weeks. He knows he’ll return to the bench when everyone is sound, but he’s enjoying this run while it lasts.

“I’m just trying to have fun,” Quinlan, 27, said. “I feel I can offer something to this team, but I never thought it would be like this.... I’m getting an opportunity and trying to make the most of it.”

Quinlan was pulled in the eighth inning Sunday, with Figgins moving to third and the light-hitting Amezaga (.151) taking over at shortstop, a move that paid off when Amezaga made a fine play, charging Ichiro Suzuki’s grounder and throwing out the speedy outfielder to end the game.

Fans who cringe watching Amezaga’s feeble late-inning at-bats are struggling with Scioscia’s strategy, and the manager admits “it’s been tough” pulling Quinlan, but he will get no complaints from Quinlan, who didn’t start taking grounders regularly at third base until spring training this season.

“I totally understand what he’s doing,” Quinlan said. “That’s what is best for the team. I’m more comfortable at third base, but when you can put a guy like Amezaga out there, that’s a good move.”