Fielder Ends Slump to Lead Angels

Cecil Fielder broke out of a deep slump by driving in three runs with a single and double Saturday night, leading the Anaheim Angels over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 7-1.

Fielder, who had just seven hits in his previous 63 at-bats, had an RBI single off Rolando Arrojo (2-2) in the fourth and a two-run single off Jim Mecir in a five-run eighth. Fielder, who signed with Anaheim as a free agent, is hitting just .191 (14-for-73) with one homer, nine RBIs and 22 strikeouts.

Dave Hollins hit his third home run of the season and Garrett Anderson hit a two-run homer in the eighth as the Angels won their third straight.

Ken Hill (4-1) allowed one run and five hits in 7 2-3 innings, sending the Devil Rays to their four loss in five games. Still, Tampa Bay (11-10) is tied with the 1969 Kansas City Royals for the best start by an expansion team through 21 games.

With help from a double play in the first and Matt Walbeck’s throw to catch Stocker stealing in the fifth, Hill faced the minimum number of batters in six of the first seven innings.

After giving up a single to Dave Martinez in the third, Hill retired 14 of the next 15 before giving up a single to Aaron Ledesma with two outs in the eighth.

Arrojo gave up four runs and nine hits in seven innings. He was coming off the longest outing of his brief major league career, a seven-inning stint against Anaheim last Sunday in which he combined with Dan Carlson and Roberto Hernandez to shut out the Angels 6-0.

The former Cuban national team star extended his streak of scoreless innings to 10 1-3 before Fielder’s single.

Kevin Stocker put Tampa Bay ahead in the third when he doubled and scored on Ledesma’s groundout. Fielder’s single tied the score, and Hollins put the Angels ahead in the sixth with an opposite-field homer.

Anaheim chased Arrojo in the eighth when Gary DiSarcina led off with a single and scored on Darin Erstad’s triple. Fielder’s double made it 5-1 after Jim Edmonds, who had three hits, walked and stole second.