Albert Pujols and Howie Kendrick homered to give the Angels an early lead, and Los Angeles held on again to beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 on Saturday night.
The Angels (72-49) are alone in first place in the AL West for the first time since 2011, but they are only two percentage points ahead of the Oakland Athletics, who lost at Atlanta on Saturday.
Los Angeles has won nine in a row over Texas, tying the series record set in 1985 and matched a year later.
Angels starter Matt Shoemaker (11-4) pitched three perfect innings before Shin-Soo Choo led off the fourth with a home run, but by that time, the Angels led 5-0.
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Huston Street worked a scoreless ninth inning for his 33rd save in 34 opportunities. It was the second straight night the Rangers rallied before losing 5-4.
