ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Salvador Perez's two-run home run was what won the game for the Kansas City Royals, but fully appreciated in Tuesday's 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field was a dominating night for the bullpen.

Four Royals relievers combined for four innings of scoreless relief, combining for seven strikeouts as Kansas City won back-to-back games for the first time since June 30.

"The bullpen did a phenomenal job, all the way around," Royals manager Ned Yost said, appreciating it more with closer Wade Davis on the disabled list.

Perez's 16th home run of the season came off Rays reliever Xavier Cedeno (3-3), who had allowed just one home run in 33.1 innings all season before Tuesday.

The Rays had taken a 2-1 lead in the fifth off Royals starter Yordano Ventura, but Kansas City rallied to go back ahead with one big swing.

"Big, huge hit by Salvy," said Yost, who had stacked the lineup with a lefty-switch-lefty combo to keep opponents from taking advantage of situational use in the bullpen.

Reliever Chris Young (3-8) followed Ventura and pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win. With Davis out, Kelvin Herrera pitched the ninth for his second save in as many nights, striking out Evan Longoria and Brad Miller with the tying run on base.

The Royals (51-55) overcame two errors and consistently got out of jams, especially early in the game, as the Rays stranded 10 runners. The Rays (42-63) lost for the second straight day after dealing away three players at the trade deadline, including Matt Moore, who would have started Tuesday.

The Rays went 1-for-14 on the night with runners in scoring position, stranding 11 runners and leaving manager Kevin Cash frustrated at missed opportunities.

"We did some things that we'd like to have some opportunities back that we didn't capitalize on, with getting guys in from on base," Cash said. "But that's the way it goes. They pitched well against us."

The Rays got a leadoff double in the eighth from Corey Dickerson, putting the tying run in scoring position with no outs. But Joakim Soria retired the next three in order, with two groundouts and a strikeout of pinch-hitter Tim Beckham to close out the inning.

Tampa Bay was quieted Ventura for four innings, stranding six runners with opportunity after opportunity snuffed out.

But in the fifth, the Rays broke through for two runs and a 2-1 lead -- Kevin Kiemaier's bunt single was thrown by Ventura into right field, allowing Logan Forsythe (who had walked) to score the tying run.

Brad Miller, who had grounded out sharply to Royals second baseman Raul Mondesi in the first and third to strand a combined four runners, hit a ground ball to Mondesi's left for a single. Kiermaier barely beat the throw to third with a slide and gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead by scoring on Desmond Jennings hit an RBI groundout to shortstop.

Moore to the San Francisco Giants on Monday, so reliever Matt Andriese was shifted back from the bullpen to take his start. He hadn't thrown more than 48 pitches in any recent appearances but was able to last four innings and 57 pitches, leaving with the Rays down 1-0. Another converted starter in the bullpen, Erasmo Ramirez, followed with two scoreless innings of relief.

"It felt good to get back in a good routine, get back out there," Andriese said. "I knew I wasn't going to be able to go that deep, but to get four quality innings out there, it's a good one to build off for the next one."

Kansas City took a 1-0 lead in the first with a two-out single from Lorenzo Cain and an RBI single from Eric Hosmer.

NOTES: After making three deals at the trade deadline and playing two men down Monday, the Rays got back to 25 players, recalling UTL Taylor Motter and RHP Ryan Garton from Triple-A Durham. Motter, 26, hit .188 with two home runs and nine RBIs earlier this season with the Rays and was batting .217 in Durham. He can fill in as an outfielder or infielder. Garton, 26, had a 5.17 ERA in 15 relief appearances earlier this season with the Rays, including a save. ... More accolades for Royals starter Danny Duffy's gem on Monday night: He joined Randy Johnson as the only left-handers in the last 100 years to strike out at least 16 in a game while giving up one hit or less. ... The Rays moved CF Kevin Kiermaier, generally in the bottom half of the batting order, to the No. 2 slot for a spark. It's only his second time this season batting anywhere higher than sixth.