Angels’ Manager Mike Scioscia has a method for his lineup

Mark Trumbo is hitting .257 with a team-leading 18 home runs, including a two-run shot to center field in the second inning of the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader against Oakland.

But Manager Mike Scioscia has kept the rookie first baseman in the seventh spot in the order, usually behind lighter-hitting third baseman Alberto Callaspo, who is batting .282 with three homers.

That may not make sense to those who think the Angels’ biggest power threat should bat in front of a player who has hit 24 homers in four big league seasons, or even higher in the lineup.

But Scioscia has his reasons.

Callaspo is hitting .282 (22 for 78) with runners in scoring position, compared with Trumbo’s .197 (14 for 71) mark, and Scioscia wants to connect Callaspo’s clutch hitting with the middle of the order.

Callaspo, who has a .360 on-base percentage, also has 32 strikeouts and 34 walks, compared with 69 strikeouts and 17 walks for Trumbo, who has a .304 on-base percentage.

Callaspo is nowhere near as dangerous a hitter as Trumbo, but in key situations, Scioscia prefers a player who will put the ball in play over one who will strike out, as Trumbo did with the bases loaded to end the first inning of Game 1 on Saturday.

Of course, with the kind of power Trumbo has, he can be in scoring position when he steps into the batter’s box.

“We have some guys with experience who are doing a good job with runners in scoring position, guys who have been productive,” Scioscia said.

“Mark has made some great strides, and he’s showing growth in that area, but right now it’s good to let him continue having success where he is. His time will come where he’ll be a middle-of-the-order guy, but it helps deepen our lineup having him where he is.”

Rehab report

Fernando Rodney began his minor league rehabilitation assignment Saturday night, giving up two earned runs and two hits, striking out two and walking one in an inning for Class-A Inland Empire against San Jose.

The veteran right-hander, out since June 9 because of an upper-back strain, probably will need at least one and maybe two more rehab appearances before being activated.

“He will come back,” Scioscia said, “when he’s ready to execute his pitches in a major league game.”

Upon further review

Umpires used video replay to uphold a call on Hideki Matsui’s eighth-inning double in the first game. The ball hit high off the out-of-town scoreboard but well below the yellow home run line.

Had Matsui’s shot cleared the wall, it would have given the Athletics designated hitter, who played last season with the Angels, a combined 500 career home runs in Japan and the U.S.

Short hops

Erick Aybar’s home run in the first game gave him seven homers through 79 games and 317 at-bats. That matched his home run total from his previous 190 games and 782 at-bats. … Left fielder Vernon Wells, scratched from Friday night’s lineup because of a stomach ailment, felt well enough to play both games Saturday. … The Angels went hitless in two at-bats with the bases loaded in the first game and are batting .190 (11 for 58) in those situations on the season, the worst mark in the American League.

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com