Kendrick Not Hitting, but He’s Still Starting

After the Angels’ offensive woes continued in Thursday night’s 2-1 win over the Rangers, Manager Mike Scioscia stressed the need for his team to score more runs and said he would “look very closely” at his lineup “to see if there are any alternatives.”

One logical move would have been to replace struggling rookie Howie Kendrick at first base with Robb Quinlan, but when lineups were posted Friday and Saturday, Quinlan and his .316 average remained on the bench, while Kendrick, now mired in a seven-for-49 slump, started both games.

Kendrick was hitless in three at-bats Friday and 0 for 4 with one strikeout Saturday.

“Robb will be in there against left-handers,” Scioscia said, “but with some of the right-handers we’re facing and the matchups we have, we felt good with Howie, who handles the fastball well.”

Fastballs haven’t been Kendrick’s problem, though. Breaking balls and off-speed pitches, the bane of so many rookie hitters, have baffled Kendrick this month, and opposing pitchers have taken advantage -- Kendrick, who struck out 26 times in his first 176 big league at-bats, has 13 strikeouts in his last 49 at-bats.

“There’s a fine line between being aggressive with balls in the zone you can handle and expanding the zone a bit,” Scioscia said. “Howie has expanded his zone in his last 40-50 at-bats, and he’s working hard to correct it.”

Quinlan, meanwhile, must be wondering if his reputation will ever go beyond that of a player who crushes left-handed pitching. Yes, Quinlan is batting .328 with six home runs in 128 at-bats against lefties, but he’s also batting .299 with one homer in 87 at-bats against right-handers.

“It can be frustrating any time you’re not playing much,” not just when the offense is struggling, Quinlan said. “That’s a natural feeling, but I’m not mad. The lineup we’re going with seems to be working -- we’re winning, so you can’t argue with it. I accept my role, and I’ll be ready when they need me.”

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His remarkable scoreless streak of 31 1/3 innings -- dating back to June 26 -- came to an end Friday night, but closer Francisco Rodriguez was hardly disappointed. Not after the Angels rallied to win, 2-1, in 11 innings.

“Winning the game is all I care about,” said Rodriguez, who suffered his fourth blown save when he gave up back-to-back doubles to Carlos Lee and Hank Blalock with two out in the ninth inning. “I’m not here to collect numbers. I don’t even think about that stuff. It would have been frustrating if we lost the game.”

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Scioscia said pitcher Kelvim Escobar, pulled from Thursday’s start after four innings because of patellar tendinitis in his left knee, was feeling “much better” Saturday. The manager was “very hopeful” that Escobar would make his next start Wednesday night in Kansas City.

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com