ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- After three games out of the starting lineup, Evan Longoria knew his wrist felt better before Wednesday's game. One swing in the third inning made that clear to everyone at Tropicana Field.

"Nothing usually hurts when you hit a home run," Longoria said after his solo shot brought in the winning run early in the Tampa Bay Rays' 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels. "It felt pretty good after that."

Wednesday's win was textbook for the Rays (32-28), who often get by on strong pitching, stellar defense and just enough offense. Longoria, playing in on the grass expecting a bunt from shortstop Erick Aybar in the fifth, snagged a line drive in midair and fired to first for a clutch double play.

"As long as I've been here, we've really leaned on our starting pitching and bullpen and then being able to play defense," Longoria said. "That's kind of the way it's been and kind of the way I think it's going to be throughout the course of the year."

The Rays (32-28) bounced back nicely from an 8-2 loss Tuesday, taking advantage of a mental error in the second inning and playing flawless defense, one night after a season-high three errors. Tampa Bay left-hander Jake McGee pitched the ninth for his first save of the season.

Los Angeles (29-30) had starter Jered Weaver last into the eighth inning, but he gave up eight hits along the way.

Tampa Bay, now 1.5 games back of the Yankees in the American League East, had exactly one hit from each of the top eight hitters in their batting order until there were two outs in the eighth, when shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera brought in an insurance run with a ground-rule double. The Angels' 3 through 6 hitters went a combined 0-for-15 on the night.

The two teams wrap up the three-game series on Thursday, with the Rays playing host to the White Sox next and the Angels returning home to face the Athletics.

Tampa Bay jumped ahead in the second inning, getting one run on an RBI single by center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, scoring shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, who had also singled. Kiermaier played a role in an unexpected second run -- with two outs and runners at second and third, outfielder Joey Butler hit a ground ball to third base, where the Angels' Kyle Kubitza was making his major-league debut.

Instead of taking the force play at first base, Kubitza saw Kiermaier approaching him between second and third and opted to get him in a rundown. But Rays first baseman Nick Franklin was able to score from third before the tag could be applied, allowing the run to count for a 2-0 lead.

"That's ... just Baseball 101," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Just a couple of things got away from him, but we'll take the positives. He swung the bat OK, two hits, and hopefully he'll be a little more relaxed tomorrow."

Kubitza, who went 2-for-3 in his debut, admitted the mistake and said he'll learn from it: "I threw it to second and then thought to myself, 'I don't know what I'm doing.' Should have thrown to first. It was a bad baseball play."

Los Angeles answered with two runs in the third, getting RBI singles from Aybar and center fielder Mike Trout to tie the game at 2-2.

Rays starter Erasmo Ramirez (5-2) lasted only five innings, but left with a 3-2 lead after holding the Angels to five hits, striking out three. Angels starter Jered Weaver, who came in 4-0 all-time at Tropicana Field with a 2.93 career ERA, lasted into the eighth but dropped to 4-6 with the loss.

NOTES: It was a short-lived stay with the Angels for OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who was designated for assignment, just two weeks after he was acquired for cash considerations from the Mets. He went just 3-for-22 (.136) in his time with Los Angeles, this after hitting .079 with the Mets. ... To take his spot on the 25-man roster, the Angels promoted 24-year-old Kyle Kubitza, who made his MLB debut starting at