ANAHEIM (Interstat) — Kevin Kelly tossed two scoreless innings of relief and the Tampa Bay Rays erupted for five runs in the eighth inning to beat the Los Angeles Angels 8-3 on Sunday afternoon at Angel Stadium, avoiding a three-game sweep.

The Rays, who had lost the first two games of the series by a combined 12-3 margin, improved to 41-27. The Angels fell to 29-43.

Tampa Bay starter Casey Legumina worked 1 2/3 innings, allowing two hits and one earned run while striking out one. Ian Seymour followed with 3 1/3 innings, surrendering two earned runs on two hits with three strikeouts. Garrett Cleavinger struck out two in two-thirds of a scoreless frame. Kelly (4-2) earned the win with two innings of one-hit, three-strikeout relief. Craig Kimbrel recorded the final out of the eighth with a strikeout.

Angels starter Sam Bachman (1-1) took the loss after yielding three runs over four innings. He allowed five hits and walked two while striking out three.

The game remained tight until the top of the eighth, when the Rays broke it open. With the score 3-3, Cedric Mullins drew a walk off Angels reliever Jose Marte. Junior Caminero then crushed a 1-2 pitch over the left-field wall for his 15th home run, scoring Mullins and giving Tampa Bay a 5-3 lead.

Chandler Simpson followed with a bunt groundout, but Richie Palacios doubled to right field. After Ben Williamson grounded out, moving Palacios to third, Hunter Feduccia singled to right to plate Palacios, making it 6-3. Victor Mesa Jr. then launched a two-run homer to right-center, his second of the season, scoring Feduccia and stretching the lead to 8-3.

The Angels threatened in the bottom of the eighth, loading the bases with two outs on a hit batter, a walk and another walk, but Cleavinger struck out Trey Mancini and Craig Kimbrel struck out Oswald Peraza to end the inning.

Tampa Bay had taken an early lead in the third. Victor Mesa Jr. walked, and after Yandy Díaz struck out, Jonathan Aranda singled. Mullins was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Caminero struck out, but Simpson laced a two-run single to center, scoring Mesa Jr. and Aranda to make it 2-1.

The Rays added a run in the fourth when Ben Williamson hit his first major league home run, a solo shot to center field.

The Angels had grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second. Jo Adell singled, Nolan Schanuel was hit by a pitch, and Denzer Guzman singled to left, scoring Adell. A double play limited the damage.

Los Angeles tied the game in the fifth. Donovan Walton homered to right-center, his first of the season, cutting the deficit to 3-2. Later, with two outs, Jo Adell singled to left, scoring Logan Porter and tying the game at 3-3.

Both bullpens held firm until the Rays’ decisive eighth inning.

Key contributors for Tampa Bay included Richie Palacios, who went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk; Casey Legumina, who allowed one earned run over 1 2/3 innings; Chandler Simpson, who went 1-for-5 with two RBIs; Ian Seymour, who struck out three over 3 1/3 innings; Garrett Cleavinger, who struck out two in a scoreless appearance; Hunter Feduccia, who went 1-for-4 with an RBI; Kevin Kelly, who struck out three over two scoreless innings; Jonathan Aranda, who went 2-for-5; and Craig Kimbrel, who recorded a strikeout in one-third of an inning. Yandy Díaz finished 0-for-4.

The game lasted 2 hours, 51 minutes in front of an announced crowd of 34,048.

Tampa Bay opens a three-game series Monday at the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Angels travel to Arizona for a three-game set against the Diamondbacks.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Tampa Bay Rays 5, Los Angeles Angels 4. Interstat’s ELO system gave the Rays a 58.40 percent probability to win. Tampa Bay was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 11 went under the over/under line of 9.