Loretta, Padres in playoff hunt

Edgar Melik-Stepanyan

Mark Loretta (St. Francis, 1989), San Diego Padres -- Loretta and the

Padres are in the hunt for a National League wild card berth with a

month to play.

San Diego is 2 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs. San Diego was

tied with the Cubs less than a week ago, but lost three straight to

fall behind.

The Padres have 29 games remaining on their schedule. Nine of

their final 12 contests are at home. The last time San Diego made the

playoffs was in 1998, when it defeated the Houston Astros and Atlanta

Braves before being swept by the New York Yankees in the World

Series.

Through Wednesday, Loretta led the National League in hits (178)

and doubles (43), and was second in batting average (.342), trailing

only Barry Bonds (.368) of the San Francisco Giants.

Loretta is in the top 11 in two other offensive categories. He’s

sixth in runs (95) and 11th in on-base percentage (.396).

He had his best month in August. He had a .387 batting average,

and produced 41 hits. He also had an 11-game hitting streak, marking

the third time in the season that he had a 10-plus game hitting

streak.

Gregg Zaun (St. Francis, 1989), Toronto Blue Jays -- The Blue Jays

have been out of the playoff picture since May. They’ll try to play

the role of spoiler for the final month of the season.

The 31-year-old Zaun has performed well, despite his team’s

struggles. He was two for four with a double in Wednesday’s 4-2

victory against the Seattle Mariners.

Zaun -- a switch-hitting catcher who has played for eight teams in

his 12-year career -- has a .285 batting average this year, with a

.403 slugging percentage and a .382 on-base percentage.

Jason Botts (Glendale Community College, 2000), Frisco RoughRiders

-- The robust Botts was named to the 2004 Postseason All-Star Team of

the Texas League. Botts is having a breakout season for the

Roughriders, a double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers.

He’s second in the league in home runs (23) and runs batted in

(87). He had 13 home runs in 2003, when he played for the RoughRiders

and the Stockton Ports.

The RoughRiders clinched the East Division title Monday with a 7-1

win against the El Paso Diablos. Frisco posted a club-record 20 wins

in August.

It will play Tulsa, the division’s first-half champion, in the

opening round of the playoffs, which start Sept. 9.

Fernando Valenzuela (St. Francis, 2000, Glendale Community

College, 2002), Fort Wayne Wizards -- The Wizards were eliminated

from playoff contention with Wednesday’s 5-2 setback against the

Cedar Rapids Kernels.

The West Michigan Whitecaps clinched a Midwest League Eastern

Division playoff berth for the first time since 2002, leaving

Valenzuela and his teammates out of the postseason.

Valenzuela is hitting .294 with a team-high 142 hits and 52 walks.