Vladimir Guerrero hit two home runs, Chone Figgins added a solo shot and the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Texas Rangers 8-3 on Monday night for their third straight victory.

Going into the game, the Angels trailed AL West-leading Oakland by six games after staving off elimination with two victories over the weekend in the Bay Area.

Joe Saunders (7-3) gave up two runs and six hits in seven innings, struck out four and walked none.

Juan Rivera paced the Angels' 18-hit attack with a 4-for-5 performance. His four hits tied a career high.

Guerrero's 32nd homer of the season just cleared the foul pole in left field to give Los Angeles a 2-0 lead in the first.

He added a solo shot in the eighth for his second multi-homer game of the season and 29th of his career.

Maicer Izturis' two-out RBI-single in the second put the Angels ahead 3-1.

Texas scored in the second on a sacrifice fly by Ian Kinsler and in the third on Michael Young's run-scoring single _ his 100th RBI of the season, a career high.

Howie Kendrick's two-out RBI-single extended the Angels' lead to 4-2 in the third.

Los Angeles added two runs in the fourth. Figgins' eighth homer chased Edinson Volquez (1-6), who gave up five runs and nine hits in three-plus innings, struck out one and walked none. Reliever Josh Rupe fielded Rivera's chopper, but Rivera narrowly beat the throw to first, allowing Orlando Cabrera to score for a 6-2 lead.

Rivera drove in another run with a single in the sixth.

Carlos Lee's RBI-single left Texas trailing 7-3 in the eighth.

Notes: Young became the 29th player in major league history, and the fourth since 1996, to record 200 hits, 100 RBIs and 50 doubles in a season. ... Angels 3B Izturis committed the team's 122nd error in the sixth, which leads the AL. ... Angels OF Tim Salmon received a standing ovation as a pinch hitter in the eighth despite ending the inning taking a called third strike. He is playing his final homestand before retiring after 14 seasons.

© The Canadian Press, 2007