ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Los Angeles Angels own the best record in baseball and their fourth AL West title in five years. Now they can spend their final 17 games resting and setting up their rotation for the playoffs.

Robb Quinlan hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the fifth inning and Francisco Rodriguez earned his 56th save in closing out the Angels’ 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Wednesday.

Second-place Texas lost to Seattle 8-7 about an hour later, handing the division to Los Angeles.

The Angels became the first team in the majors to earn a playoff spot this season with their earliest clinching of the division title in franchise history. The Angels became the fastest team to clinch the AL West since the Oakland Athletics did it on Sept. 15, 1971.

“There’s no such thing as too soon to clinch,” new Angel Torii Hunter said. “We’ve been going hard to get to this point. It doesn’t matter if we clinch early or late, as long as we clinched.”

Los Angeles wrapped up the division without starters Chone Figgins (injured), Mark Teixeira (ill) and Hunter, who was suspended for two days for helping trigger a bench-clearing scuffle with Yankees catcher Ivan Rodriguez on Monday.

Hunter, who joined the Angels from Minnesota as a free agent during the offseason, wasn’t allowed on the field or in the dugout because of his punishment. Pitcher Justin Speier wore Hunter’s jersey on the field in his honor during a raucous post-game celebration.

“I guess he has the utmost respect for me like I have for him,” Hunter said. “He wore my jersey out there, running around. That was pretty cool. In memory of me!”

The Angels will try to do something that none of their previous division-winning teams accomplished — reach the World Series. They won their first and only World Series title as a wild-card team in 2002, the year they knocked Hunter’s Minnesota Twins out of the playoffs.

Perhaps, there might even be the first Freeway Series this year — the Dodgers lead the NL West by 31⁄2 games.

Like Hunter, Teixeira was thrilled to come to the Angels after years of playing with the Rangers in the same division.

“I’ve always been jealous of the Angels,” he said. “Some great players play their entire careers without ever getting a taste of the postseason, and I’m going to have that opportunity this year.”

After watching Texas lose, the Angels emerged from the clubhouse and shared their jubilation with several hundred fans who remained to cheer the final out in Seattle.

Stadium scoreboards flashed “2008 AL West champions” and fans held up their own signs, including one that read, “I want to go to the World Series.”

“It doesn’t get old,” longtime Angels star Garret Anderson said.

Team owner Arte Moreno came on the field, clapping his hands and repeatedly signaling thumbs-up to the red-clad fans. They responded with chants of “Arte! Arte!”

The Angels never have finished the season with the best record in baseball, something that intrigues Moreno. They’re on pace for 98 wins, one less than the club record of 99 set in 2002.

“Right now I’m more interested in how we finish up the season and get prepared to play in the playoffs,” he said. “Obviously, you always like to have home-field advantage.”

And there’s another bit of business to take care of before the playoffs.

Rodriguez pitched a scoreless ninth and moved within one save of Bobby Thigpen’s 18-year-old major league record. He threw a called third strike past Hideki Matsui with runners at first and third for the final out.

Dustin Moseley (2-4) allowed two runs and three hits in five innings while making a spot start for Jered Weaver, whose injured fingers pushed him back to today. Moseley struck out six and walked three in winning for the first time since April 9 against Cleveland.

“You can’t minimize how important this is,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “It happened a little earlier than it has in other seasons, but it’s not easy getting to that first step, so we’re excited about going to the playoffs and we’re going to keep going.”

Andy Pettitte (13-13) lost for the sixth time in his last nine starts. The left-hander gave up four runs and nine hits in 4 2-3 innings, tying his second-shortest outing of the season.

“It’s a bad feeling, especially when you work so hard to prepare yourself for the season and really prepare yourself for October,” he said. “Obviously, people think we’re out of the playoffs and guys think they’re out of the playoffs, but I’d hope they would play for some pride.”

Leading 2-1, Pettitte nearly got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth. After giving up consecutive singles to Gary Matthews Jr., Anderson and Vladimir Guerrero, he retired Juan Rivera and Kendry Morales on called third strikes.

Facing a full count, Quinlan lined a single to left, scoring two runs. Guerrero continued home on Xavier Nady’s throw that sailed over the head of third baseman Alex Rodriguez and into the netting for an error, allowing the Angels to take a 4-2 lead.

“He worked the count on me and fouled off tough pitches that I felt I had a chance to get him with,” Pettitte said. “I didn’t want to walk him, and I just kind of tugged it a little bit more over the middle of the plate than I wanted to and gave up a hit to him.”

After Rodriguez got the final out, he raised his arms and looked to the sky before being swarmed by his teammates.

A couple players grabbed the hose behind the pitcher’s mound and turned it on, spraying their teammates and fans gathered behind the Angels’ dugout.

“There was no pressure. We weren’t worried about when we were going to clinch,” Anderson said. “It’s definitely different than taking it down to the wire, like we’ve done a few times.”