ARLINGTON, Texas – The AL West champion Los Angeles Angels left Texas with a few more bumps and bruises, and their most lopsided loss of the season.

Michael Young reached 200 hits for the fifth consecutive season with a pair of RBI singles among his three hits and Sammy Sosa hit one of the Rangers’ five home runs in their home finale Wednesday. Last-place Texas wrapped up a three-game series sweep with a 16-2 victory.

Nelson Cruz, Gerald Laird, Travis Metcalf and Hank Blalock also homered for the Rangers. Blalock’s three-run homer came in the seventh inning when he pinch-hit for Sosa, right after Young reached his milestone.

Los Angeles clinched the division before getting to Texas, but is still in the race for the American League’s top record and home-field advantage through the playoffs.

The Angels, who have three games left in Oakland this weekend, stayed at 92 victories. That is one fewer than Boston and Cleveland, the other division leaders who played later Wednesday. The Red Sox and Indians both had four games left after that.

Vladimir Guerrero, in the Angels lineup for the first time in the series, was hit on the left hand by a pitch in the fifth inning. He remained in the game as a runner, but was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the seventh when Los Angeles trailed 11-2.

Guerrero has been limited to designated hitter his past 15 starts since Sept. 4 because of an inflamed right triceps that make throws from the outfield difficult.

Center fielder Gary Matthews came out with an irritated left knee after a running catch to end the first inning. The team said Matthews, who was playing his fifth game since missing 10 with a sprained right ankle, will be evaluated Friday in Oakland.

Sosa hit a two-run homer in the first off Joe Saunders (8-5) that made it 3-0. The 412-foot shot to right-center, in what might have been his last home game for the Rangers, was Sosa’s 21st this season – and No. 609 in his career. He also leads the team with 92 RBIs, even though he has started only 18 of the past 53 games.

When Sosa returned to the Rangers after a year out of baseball, the 38-year-old slugger got only a one-year deal. He got a $600,000 base salary and earned another $1.35 million in performance bonuses, reaching the last possible one when he had his 450th plate appearance Wednesday.

Young preceded Sosa’s homer in the first with an RBI single and finished 3-for-5. The All-Star shortstop joined Wade Boggs and Ichiro Suzuki as the only players since 1940 with five consecutive 200-hit seasons. Boggs and Suzuki both had seven in a row, including this year for Suzuki.

Luis Mendoza allowed two runs over 4 2-3 innings in his third start this month for Texas, having never pitched above the Double-A level before then.

The last batter Mendoza faced was Guerrero, hitting him to load the bases after Eric Aybar and Maicier Izturis both had sacrifice flies to get the Angels within 6-2. Reliever John Rheinecker (4-3) got out of the jam by striking out Garret Anderson, who also played for the first time in the series.

The Angels also skipped the scheduled start of 17-game winner Kelvim Escobar (inflammation in his shoulder) during the series. Manager Mike Scioscia said before Wednesday’s game that Escobar would start Saturday in Oakland.

Notes: Saunders is 1-4 with a 6.69 ERA his past seven starts. … The start of the game was delayed 31 minutes by rain. … The Rangers turned their team-record 177th double play in the eighth inning, breaking the record set in 1975. … The Rangers finished 47-34 at home.

AP-ES-09-26-07 1801EDT