ANAHEIM -- Scott Kazmir was unhittable for a fair portion of Wednesday afternoon, but Maicer Izturis was unfazed.

Izturis admired the left-hander's location and witnessed the succession of outs and string of zeros the Rays starting pitcher was putting up.

But Izturis made the requisite mental notes and adjusted accordingly. By the time he came up in the bottom of the seventh and faced Kazmir for the fourth time, Izturis had a pretty good idea of what he needed to do in the batter's box.

Down a run, Izturis delivered and sent an offering from Kazmir lofting into right-center field to drive in a pair and send the Angels to a 4-2 victory over the Rays, securing the three-game series.

"I noticed that [Kazmir] was really aggressive and threw me a lot of fastballs early in the count," Izturis said through an interpreter. "I noticed also, guys like my type, the ones that get on base and can do some damage on the bases, he threw a lot of fastballs. The last pitch was a changeup, and I went the other way. But I noticed mainly that guys like myself, he kept the same aggressive style."

Izturis' clutch single made a winner out of John Lackey, who allowed a run in a shaky first inning. But he regrouped and ultimately outdueled Kazmir, who took a perfect game into the fifth inning.

"The only way you're going to beat good pitching is with good pitching, and John kept us in the game," manager Mike Scioscia said. "Kazmir was throwing a terrific game; he's always been tough on us. He's having a good year for them. Those guys went pitch for pitch for a long time."

Gary Matthews Jr. spoiled Kazmir's bid for a perfecto with a two-out solo shot in the fifth, while Vladimir Guerrero added some insurance in the eighth with his 10th home run of the season.

Guerrero struggled through the first two months of the season and hit .219 in May, but he's rebounded in June by going 11-for 24 with seven RBIs and three homers in his last seven games. A sore right knee kept Guerrero out of a three-game series in Seattle last week and has relegated him to the designated hitter role in six games since, but he said the knee has improved.

"I'm thinking more of hitting the ball up the middle. It's something I worked on with hitting coach Mickey Hatcher," Guerrero said through an interpreter. "I've spent more time in the batting cages hitting off a tee to stay lower in my swing. It's something I've done throughout my career. I just went back to it, and it's working."

Getting Guerrero hot and bolstering the middle of the lineup is critical to the Angels' offensive strategy, but so is finding production and getting speed on the bases at the top of the order, which Izturis has done of late.

Izturis got going in the sixth inning Wednesday, when he singled to left after Reggie Willits walked. That extended Izturis' hitting streak to 11 games and gave him a hit in 16 of his last 18. He's hitting .437 during the streak. For the month of June, Izturis has posted a .359 on-base percentage with a .558 slugging percentage.

He's also 10-for-30 with runners in scoring position this season.

"The hits are falling in. I really felt throughout the whole year I've been hitting the ball well," Izturis said. "I really haven't changed anything. They're finding holes."

The Rays touched Lackey for a run in the top of the first inning, when Akinori Iwamura tripled to right-center and came home on Carl Crawford's RBI single. Lackey loaded the bases but held the Rays to the lone run.

Gabe Gross singled in the second but was erased on a double play, and Lackey did not allow another baserunner until Evan Longoria doubled to lead off the seventh. The former Long Beach State star went to third on Willy Aybar's ground ball and scored on a sac fly by Dioner Navarro to give the Rays a 2-1 lead.

But that is all Lackey would allow, while Scot Shields and Francisco Rodriguez, who earned his 27th save and extended his club record to 24 straight, tossed scoreless relief.

Lackey's effort proved pivotal, as Kazmir was untouchable early.

The Angels loaded the bases in the sixth, when Willits walked, Izturis singled and Guerrero was walked intentionally, but Kazmir struck out Torii Hunter to end the threat.

Kazmir struck out Matthews to open the seventh, but Casey Kotchman singled. After Mike Napoli struck out for the third time, Robb Quinlan followed with a walk. Willits then walked, a result that ultimately got Rays manager Joe Maddon ejected, and Izturis followed with his go-ahead hit.

"Kazmir pitched very good today. At least to me, he threw a lot of high fastballs and mixed his stuff well," Guerrero said. "I'm not sure how he pitched to everyone else, but he kept the ball out of the hitting zone."

Following Izturis' hit, Maddon came out to pull Kazmir and was tossed following an argument with home-plate umpire Derryl Cousins. Four of Maddon's eight career ejections have come against the Angels, a team for which he used to coach.

Kazmir (6-2) allowed three runs on six hits and three walks with 10 strikeouts to take the loss. Lackey (3-1) allowed two runs on four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts over 7 1/3 innings to pick up the win.

"He got in trouble in the first inning, then seemed to settle down," Crawford said of Lackey. "He was pitching well after that -- mixing it up, two-seamers away. He pitched a good game."