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.

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.”

Inside the clubhouse, manager Mike Scioscia grinned when pitcher Ervin Santana delighted in dumping more booze on his head. A couple players returned to the dugout, alternately spraying champagne on fans and chugging from the bottle.

“You can’t minimize how important this is,” 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.”

Robb Quinlan hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the fifth inning for the Angels.

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 Weaver, whose injured fingers pushed him back to Thursday. Moseley struck out six and walked three in winning for the first time since April 9 against Cleveland.

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.”

The Yankees finished 5-5 on their four-city trip, making it likely they’ll miss the playoffs for the first time in 13 years. They head to New York for their final 10 games at Yankee Stadium.

“We started off the trip so well and we didn’t finish very well. That’s the frustrating part,” manager Joe Girardi said. “You have pride in what you do, and there’s no X by our name (in the standings), so there’s still a lot to play for. I still think out guys believe we have something to play for.”

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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.”

New York scored both of its runs in the first on Jason Giambi’s RBI single and a balk by Moseley that allowed Bobby Abreu to score from third.

The Angels scored their first run on Rivera’s RBI groundout in the first.

Notes: 1B Teixeira sat out because of an infection and a temperature. Figgins was not in the starting lineup for the second straight game because of a sore right elbow. He got hit by a pitch during Monday’s game and manager Mike Scioscia said Figgins was having difficulty throwing and swinging the bat. ... Weaver (10-10) was announced as Thursday’s starter against Seattle, with cuts on the right middle and ring fingers of his pitching hand having healed. “I’ll throw everything,” he said. “It just depends on how sharp everything is.” ... The Angels reached 3 million in attendance, making them and the Yankees the only teams to do so in each of the last six seasons.

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