As Angels heat up, Kendrick is sent down

The cloud of mediocrity that has hovered above them all month lifted for at least one night Friday, the Angels stringing together a club-record seven hits in seven official at-bats during a five-run fourth inning that propelled them to an 11-6 interleague victory over the San Diego Padres at Angel Stadium.

But the rare offensive outburst, which featured a season-high 18 hits, including a triple, a double and two singles by Maicer Izturis and home runs by Torii Hunter and Kendry Morales, couldn’t spare Howie Kendrick his job.

The struggling second baseman, who was replaced by Izturis in Friday night’s lineup, was optioned to triple-A Salt Lake after the game. Hot-hitting Sean Rodriguez is expected to be recalled today.

“We’re trying to win games here, and if they need to make a move, I’m OK with that,” said Kendrick, a career .306 hitter who is batting .231 with a .281 on-base percentage.

“I’ll go down and try to find myself, start attacking balls in the zone and be the same hitter I was. Hopefully, this will be a reality check for me.”

Kendrick thrived offensively in his first three big league seasons, squaring up the ball so regularly that several veteran teammates predicted he’d win a batting title someday. Manager Mike Scioscia was so confident in Kendrick he hit him second to open the season.

But after batting .264 with three home runs and 17 runs batted in through May 2, Kendrick hit .202 (20 for 99) with no homers and five RBIs over his next 30 games and was dropped to the ninth spot in mid-May.

“We feel it’s time for Howie to go down and kind of exhale, take the pressure off, find his swing and get some at-bats,” Scioscia said. “We think it will be a quick turnaround.”

Kendrick admitted he was pressing.

“Sometimes we make this game harder than it is, and that’s what I’m doing right now,” he said. “You never want to hear this type of news, but it could be a positive.”

Hunter has taken Kendrick under his wing this season, offering advice during sometimes lengthy postgame sessions. Friday night, the veteran center fielder could only offer condolences and encouragement.

“I told him my experiences getting sent down in 1997 and 1998,” Hunter said. “Every time I got sent down, it lit a fire under me and got me upset. I hope this [ticks] him off, fires him up, makes him a lot more aggressive.”

Though many figured third-base prospect Brandon Wood would get the first call from Salt Lake, Rodriguez is just as deserving, entering Friday with a .277 average, 21 homers and 60 RBIs in 56 games.

In five stints with the Angels last season, Rodriguez hit .204 in 59 games and played superb defense at second. His emerging power this season has come at a cost -- Rodriguez has a team-high 67 strikeouts and 20 walks in 202 at-bats.

Power has been a huge problem for the Angels, who rank last in the American League in home runs and had gone 35 innings without a homer entering Friday.

But Hunter snapped that streak with a two-run shot to left off Chad Gaudin to cap a three-run first inning. Izturis’ triple and Erick Aybar’s RBI single made it 4-1 in the second, the lead evaporating when the Padres scored twice off Angels starter Matt Palmer in the third and once in the fourth.

But Morales, mired in a three-for-28 slump, led off the fourth with a homer to left-center field, his ninth of the season, and the train kept a-rolling, all inning long.

Izturis singled, Mike Napoli blooped an RBI double, Aybar hit an RBI single, Figgins singled, and Bobby Abreu hit an RBI single.

Hunter walked, and Vladimir Guerrero blooped an RBI single, the seven hits in seven consecutive at-bats tying a club record that has been achieved five times, the last against Baltimore in the second inning on Aug. 31, 2002.

Palmer, who hadn’t pitched since May 30 but returned to the rotation after Kelvim Escobar’s shoulder setback, went six innings, allowing four runs -- three earned -- and 10 hits to improve to 6-0.

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com