ANGELS NOTEBOOK: ROTATION SHOWING DEPTH.

Byline: BEN VILLA Staff Writer

ANAHEIM -- With the Jul 31 trade deadline looming, it seems like every team needs more pitching except for the Angels.

The Angels have five quality starters, their pitching staff has the second-lowest ERA (4.02) in the American League and in the last few days, they showed off their depth in the minor leagues.

Dustin Moseley and Joe Saunders filled in this week for the injured Kelvim Escobar and Jered Weaver, and each pitched well enough to win his first major league start.

Those performances reassured Angels manager Mike Scioscia that if any of his starters happen to miss significant time with an injury, the Angels won't miss a beat with either Moseley or Saunders on the mound.

``I thought Dustin and Joe both did great jobs,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. ``We have confidence in both of them, and if we didn't, they wouldn't be on our depth chart.''

The problem for both Moseley and Saunders is that when everybody is healthy, there's no room for them. As a result, they were sent back down to Triple-A Salt Lake after their starts.

Escobar threw a bullpen session on Tuesday, and he's ready to start on Saturday in Kansas City, while Weaver is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Friday. If it goes well, he's slated to start Sunday but Scioscia said that if Weaver isn't 100 percent, Saunders would take his place.

``This rotation is so good, there's no room for us, but if I get the opportunity to start again, I'm going to try and make the most of it,'' Saunders said. ``I think there was pressure on Dustin and I, because the team was doing so well without us, we didn't want to ruin things around here.''

Second time around: When Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick first joined the team April 24 after being recalled from Salt Lake, he struggled at the plate and batted well below .200. But after being recalled again on July 14, Kendrick looks a lot more comfortable.

On Sunday against Tampa Bay, Kendrick had the first three-hit game of his career, and on Tuesday night against the Indians, he hit a two-run single in the fourth inning to keep a five-run rally alive.

``The first time Howie was with us, he had a lot to get used to,'' Scioscia said. ``It was his first taste of he big leagues, the lights are on at night and his head was probably spinning.''

Also: The Angels went over the 2 million mark in attendance on Wednesday in their 48th home game. It was the fastest to two million in franchise history.