ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Even though he can't dominate a game anymore the way he used to, Dwight Gooden can still display flashes of the form that made him one of the preeminent pitchers of his generation.

The 16-year veteran right-hander pitched five strong innings in his 400th career start as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Anaheim Angels 7-3 Thursday night.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia, who hit a dramatic game-tying two-run homer against Gooden in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the 1988 NL Championship Series, must have felt like he was transported back in time after watching Gooden hold his team to a run and four hits.

"You can pick any of those years in the '80s -- I mean, if this guy wasn't the toughest guy in our league to hit, he was definitely in the top two or three," Scioscia said. "He was a big-game pitcher. He was a horse. He'd go out there and throw 130 pitches if he had to with great stuff and great command. He was something special."

Gooden (2-0) struck out three in his third start for the Devil Rays, who obtained the former NL Cy Young winner from the Houston Astros on April 13 in a cash transaction. The victory was the right-hander's second in his last 11 starts.

"The last couple of days I've been under the weather a little bit with a strep throat and was getting the chills at night, so it was tough," Gooden said. "And coming out to face a team like this, you'd like to do well -- especially after the way they hit me the last time I faced them."

Gooden was rocked for six earned runs over four-plus innings by the Angels in a no-decision April 1 in Tampa. He surrendered three homers in the fourth inning of that game, including back-to-back shots by Mo Vaughn and Tim Salmon. But this time, he got even with both sluggers.

Darin Erstad's bunt single in the fifth inning followed a leadoff single by Gary DiSarcina, and both advanced on a sacrifice by Adam Kennedy. But Gooden, 35, pitching these days on finesse and savvy instead of power, reached back for some of his vintage magic. He struck out Vaughn with a fastball and Salmon with a 79-mph slider.

"When situations got hot, you always saw him step it up a level," Scioscia said. "Now when he steps it up, his stuff is better and he gets competitive. It's not the electric stuff he had when he was 19, but you'll still see that competitiveness in him come out. He's got that fire, and that's what's pushed him along this far to still be able to compete at 35."

Dave Martinez drove in three runs and Gerald Williams had two RBI for the Devil Rays, whose three victories in their last eight games all have come against Anaheim.

Vinny Castilla doubled with two out in the second against Ramon Ortiz (1-2) and scored on the first of John Flaherty's three hits, a bloop single inside the right field line.

Williams singled under the glove of third baseman Troy Glaus with two out in the third, stole second and scored Tampa Bay's second run on Martinez's double.

Adam Kennedy led off the bottom of the third with his third homer -- the fifth surrendered by Gooden in his first 17 innings this season. But the Devil Rays increased the margin to 3-1 in the fifth with the help of Vaughn's second error this season.

Kevin Stocker led off with a single and Vaughn's wild throw to first on a sacrifice bunt by Williams put runners at second and third. Martinez followed with a sacrifice fly.

Williams increased Tampa Bay's lead to 5-1 in the sixth with a two-run bases-loaded single after Ortiz walked one batter and reliever Al Levine walked two more. Greg Vaughn capped the inning with an RBI single and Martinez completed Tampa Bay's scoring in the eighth with his second RBI double.

The Angels scored their final two runs in the ninth off reliever Roberto Hernandez.

Game notes
Tampa Bay's power quartet of Vaughn, Castilla, Jose Canseco and Fred McGriff -- who hit a combined 305 home runs over the previous two seasons -- failed to homer for the 14th time in the team's first 21 games. The Devil Rays are 2-5 when at least one of them homers, and 6-8 when none of them do. ... Erstad, who entered Thursday night's game with a major league-leading .456 average, had three hits. It was Erstad's 15th multi-hit game this month, the most by any major leaguer in April since Dave Winfield's 15 multi-hit games in 1979.