BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : Pennington Off DL; Fabregas Optioned

The Angels activated reliever Brad Pennington from the disabled list and optioned catcher Jorge Fabregas to triple-A Vancouver. Neither move was a surprise.

Pennington, who had elbow trouble, had a 0.00 earned-run average in two rehab assignments at Class-A Lake Elsinore and one at Vancouver. Fabregas was caught in a numbers crunch with Don Slaught and Pat Borders.

“Slaught just kind of took over the job,” Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann said. “He hit a ton and played good defensively. Jorge is not done in this organization. . . . I thought the last 10 days he picked up his work program. If he maintains that work ethic the rest of his career he’ll be all right.”

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Darin Erstad walked to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded in the fourth inning Saturday. It was the perfect opportunity for a rookie to fall on his face, hit a tapper back to the mound for the third out. Or something similar. Most would expect such a result.

But Erstad, last year’s top draft pick, continues to prove he’s a capable replacement for center fielder Jim Edmonds. Erstad’s two-run single off Milwaukee starter Angel Miranda enabled the Angels to build a 5-0 lead in the fourth.

“The guy [Miranda] almost got away with nothing,” Lachemann said. “That was a big base hit.”

Erstad also delivered a sacrifice fly in the seventh. His three runs batted in increased his total to seven in nine games since being called up June 13 from Vancouver.