"Where they are right now, this is the best rotation we've had, and that's saying something when you're talking about the way Bartolo Colon was throwing the ball in '05 and having (Kelvim) Escobar and John Lackey," Scioscia said. "Where guys are right now, this is the deepest rotation we've had."

Where they are right now is awfully good. With John Lackey's five-hit shutout Thursday, Angels starters have an ERA of 1.42 ERA in their past 12 games, allowing one earned run or none in nine of those 12 games.

"A little healthy competition in the clubhouse is a good thing," Lackey said. "I don't want those guys to one-up me. I want to do even better than them. But when they're out there, I'm the biggest cheerleader they have."

After searching for any kind of stability in their rotation for most of the season, the recent run has the Angels optimistic about the postseason.

"I think it's huge, and I think our starters performing better is having a positive effect on our bullpen," Scioscia said. "It's reassuring to us every night knowing we've got a guy going out there who's going to give us a chance to win. They're all taking that baton. They've all been doing well for the last couple times through the rotation now."

ANGELS 3, MARINERS 0: The Angels completed a three-game sweep of the Mariners with a dominating performance by RHP John Lackey. Lackey threw a five-hit shutout, not allowing a baserunner past second base and facing just 31 batters (four over the minimum). Torii Hunter's two-run home run in the fourth and an RBI double by Erick Aybar in the seventh provided the offense as the Angels won for the sixth time in their past seven games. They are a season-high 29 games over .500 (84-55).